An apparent calm in the season finale has led us to think that the Ferrari it would not have changed anything in the workforce, in view of 2023. The mistakes are part of a growth path that began in Maranello at the end of the 2019 season - the year in which Mattia Binotto became team principal - and which is not over yet. The F1-75 is the result of years of work, but in Formula 1 championships are rarely won with the car alone. Although the mechanical means can also be fallible and unreliable, there is the human component that must compensate for what it can. With the talent of the pilots, the strategies, with an overall vision of the objectives to be achieved. Already from here arose more than one doubt. Could Ferrari fight for victories or for the world championship?
In hindsight, if we consider the avoidable situations, taking away the reliability, perhaps he would have had a few more victories but not the world championship. However, in the Ferrari house of errors there have been many, too many humans. Inability to act with respect to unforeseen events in which the interminable seconds that passed between one communication and another have jeopardized a result. Confused communications, retracted orders, total disarray. When disasters like this happen, one immediately thinks of a change and this has demanded the public from the very beginning. Act in those areas, replacing those figures who have proved to be fragile, inadequate for the role covered.
However, Ferrari has always appeared solid in its silence. No figure seemed hovering, despite the reactions in particular of Charles Leclerc, which implied that something was wrong. The surprise response from everyone, including the team, arrived during the week. The media bomb, launched by the Gazzetta, regarding the dismissal by Mattia Binotto he tore the silence in which the team had comfortably taken refuge. All a few days before the end of the season before the GP of Abu Dhabi, a provocation that had a devastating effect. The team has promptly denied, probably because he didn't expect this news to leak out. Just as in March the preview photos of the F1-75 were not expected to leak.
binotto denies everything
On the eve of the Abu Dhabi GP during the Team Principals' press conference Mattia Binotto answered the uncomfortable questions about his future for the first time, also speaking of the relationship with Sebastian Vettel – who will leave F1 at the end of this weekend – and Ferrari.
“Ferrari is the most loved team, as Sebastian has said in the past. Everyone is a Ferrari fan even if they say they aren't. When there is such a strong passion, this can also lead to many criticisms and many voices, as we have also seen in the past. The situation will not change now and it will not change in the future. When these rumors came out, I spoke with President John Elkann, and we discussed the best course of action together, so we decided to issue that statement to shut down any speculation. These were rumors that had no basis, and for the future the most important thing is to concentrate on the last race weekend, also in order not to distract the team, with rumors that there will always be Ferrari.”
When asked categorically about the certainty that he will remain team principal in 2023 However, Mattia Binotto has changed his perspective, indicating that it is not up to him to decide on his future. “It's not up to me to decide but I'm relaxed, I have no reason to worry. If I look back on the season, we've had some ups and downs and we're still not the fastest car on the grid, but we've achieved our main goal, which is to be competitive again with the cars of this new era."
“If I look at the way we started the season I think nobody could have ever imagined Ferrari to be so fast, this shows that the team has worked well maintaining unity also in 2020 and 2021. Of course we still have to improve in many points but I am sure that, as we have done in the past, we will review them and try to resolve them. The factory team is focused on 2023 precisely to solve these problems. We need to improve on race pace because strategy and everything around it is much easier if you have a strong car in the race. Then a I am calm and focused on what we have to do as a team.”
On Vettel:not renewing it was the most difficult task”
“First of all, Sebastian is a great driver, his fantastic results prove it. As Ferrari we were lucky to have him, they were 6 important years. He gave so much as a driver but above all as a person and everyone still loves him. we too at Ferrari still love him. They have been intense and difficult years. The hardest task of my career was just announcing to Sebastian that we weren't going to renew his contract for the 2021 season. When you love someone and you really enjoy collaborating with them, it's difficult to announce. But I've gotten stronger since then. In Ferrari his goal was to win with Ferrari, a dream of ours too but it was not his failure, but that of the entire team. In 2017 and 2018 it came close but we couldn't reach it.”
Source statements: sky sports f1
