In the new year we all make good resolutions. Ferrari was no different. A fast car, a motivated team, ready to take the praise of those who, seeing speed towards the checkered flag in Bahrain two red spots, he was finally looking forward to a season worthy of the prestigious horse brand. Perhaps taken by too much optimism or blinded by the beauty of the "beast", we let ourselves be deluded by all this perfection. 2022 was an ambiguous year, which began under the echo of "we will go back to winning races", which immediately evolved into "we are in full battle for the world championship". Ferrari has lived up to theinitial goal finishing second in both championshipsbut at what price? it was necessary to take many steps backwards to take one forward. Make mistakes to understand. But understand what?
We understood the problem, or rather the problems of the F1-75, little reliable, and stripped of updates from mid-season onwards. A premeditated choice that totally nullified any possibility of facing the first rival, the RB18. We understand that Ferrari will still have to work on the strategy, on the wall-rider communication, on the statements because it is right to defend the excellent work done by everyone to bring such a car to the track but errors, especially human ones, must be recognized and faced with a certain maturity. We understood that to win it's not enough to have the strongest car. That Mattia binotto perhaps he wasn't the most suitable figure to be a Team Principal, and that it would have been right to leave him in the technical field, but we understood that too late. And especially, we understood that we still need time to get to the world championship.
Start it all over again
The fact that Ferrari is looking for its fifth Team Principal in 15 years points to a major bankruptcy cycle. Ferrari has chosen to start over, to let Mattia Binotto go the way he arrived. In silence, except for the noise of the media. A decidedly questionable Team Principal but an excellent technician, who knows the Ferrari environment very well and who will tempt his opponents. Under his leadership, Ferrari overhauled the wind tunnel, which had long held them back in terms of development. He also signed the cutting-edge simulator which is now the best in Formula 1. Not to mention the engine, which came after two years of castrated engines and which is now on par with the Honda / Red Bull "motorone".
When will Binotto leave?
This will be a long and difficult winter for Ferrari. Rebuilding is a process that takes more and more time, and we won't know the name of the replacement, or replacements for Mattia Binotto at least until the beginning of January, considering that the engineer from Lausanne will leave the team on December 31st. Here we go again, therefore with the new "good resolutions". Continuity, although it is almost always the right choice, in this case perhaps would not have paid off and this is because Binotto's relations with the management, or with Leclerc himself who arrived in Maranello right under the wing of the now ex TP, were almost unrecoverable. Ferrari, according to some sources, had in fact already evaluated the candidates to replace Binotto in recent months. Illustrious characters in the paddock would also have entered the crosshairs of the management such as Christian horner e Toto wolff, which for obvious reasons would have declined the offer of the prestigious Italian brand, come on Andreas Seidl, Franz tost e Gerhard berger, former Ferrari driver, returned to F1 in more managerial roles.
The choice of a definitive departure was almost obligatory, but it won't be easy for Ferrari to find a balance, much less will this revolution suddenly solve all the problems that have afflicted it, indeed it will probably create others. The loss of such an important figure for the information and knowledge he carries with him, despite the "gardening" period, or rather a sort of leave that he will have to observe before landing in a new team, it risks being a very powerful double-edged sword for the Maranello team.
Who will replace him?
The names that revolve around the name of Binotto are different but there is a premise to be made. Mattia Binotto found himself doing the TP, as Technical Director, despite not having a suitable background for the job, being basically a technician. This is why in the last 4 years in Ferrari his figure has been double. In fact, Ferrari did not choose to find a replacement for the Technical Director, thus entrusting both roles to Binotto, who perhaps out of love for the team wanted to put too much weight on his shoulders, which in the end gave way.
For 2023 therefore, there would be two figures to replace that of Binotto. However, let's start with an important denial. Indeed, a return of Ross Brawn, Ferrari Technical Director in the winning era of Michael Schumacher, together with Rory Byrne and Jean Todt. However the Brawn option was the most complicated, for true dreamers. To curb the voices, he thought about it, indirectly, all the same Brawn, who has announced his imminent farewell to F1 after taking on the role of managing director, thus denying the rumors that gave him a return to Maranello: "I've loved everything I've done over the past few years. I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity by Liberty and it was a job done with love. Now is the right time to retire."
The most “comfortable” choices
Ross Brawn isn't the only one who has been targeted by the media. The first candidate for the role of TP remains. Indeed Frederic Vasseur, currently linked to Alfa Romeo/Sauber. A figure of great experience, appreciated by the top management of Maranello and who knows Charles Leclerc well. However, Ferrari knows it cannot aspire to the title with a figure taken from a medium-low ranking team and for this reason his name is destined to remain in the box of "last chances", if a more palatable. Together with Vasseur, the name of Antonello Coletta, head of GT Ferrari Sports Activities. CEO Benedetto Vigna, on the other hand, will cover the role of interim team boss for the next period, while the team will look for a replacement for Binotto.
Check off a new name
Nominations are scarce, and the names listed above are only "fallbacks". Ferrari has to pull the rabbit out of the hat by bringing up a name worthy of Binotto's brand and caliber. As always, the media propose names perhaps to attract the attention of the management. A name that in the aftermath of Binotto's resignation is bouncing on the main newspapers and social media has been launched from the Dutch of racingnews365.com. A name which would be very close to the figure requested by Ferrari, or Paul Hembery, the forerunner of Mario Isola in Pirelli.
“Hembery is a consummate racing man, accustomed to Italian politics, fluent in Italian and having lived there for years before embarking on a cosmopolitan corporate life, who is known to all the major players in the paddock, who thoroughly understand the politics of F1, which has managed a company with accounts and a budget of a certain level and which, fundamentally, is available immediately”.
Furthermore, the figure of must not be underestimated Maurizio Arrivabene, fresh from his resignation from the board of directors of Juventus. Arrivabene preceded Mattia Binotto up to the break with Ferrari and his return to the wall cannot be ruled out, however sensational it may be. The ball is in hand, once again in the management. In the hope that he can make the most suitable choice for the good of a team that is loved and at the same time full of wounds, given by continuous disappointments of love, which must be healed, and quickly.
Source statements: Passion formula
