Charles Leclerc reveals Mattia Binotto gesture before resigning as Ferrari team principal


Charles Leclerc reveals Mattia Binotto gesture before resigning as Ferrari team principal

Charles Leclerc and Mattia Binotto (IMAGO/ Motorsport Images)

Mattia Binotto stepped down as Ferrari team principal, after spending decades (28 years, to be exact) working with the team in various capacities. He moved up into the hot seat in 2019, replacing Maurizio Arrivabene and was then given the hard task of navigating Ferrari through the absolute low of 2020. By 2022, they were at least able to compete for race wins.

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The rumours had been swirling for a while, and while Ferrari publicly stated they were without foundation, Binotto did eventually resign. While Ferrari were ‘competitive’ in 2022, they were plagued by reliability issues and strategic errors – all of which just increased the pressure on the team, and Binotto bore the brunt of it.

The Italian apparently resigned because of a lack of confidence. Binotto was definitely under tremendous pressure – always the case at Ferrari, and there were rumours of a ‘disturbed’ relationship with Charles Leclerc – the moment with the former wagging his finger at Leclerc after the debacle at the British Grand Prix comes to mind.

Speaking at the FIA Gala Press Conference, the Monegasque revealed that Binotto called him before stepping down as team principal: “Mattia called me to announce that he will stop. I respect his decision and I can only thank him. Obviously, he has believed in me right from the start. He extended me with a very, very long contract. And before being team principal, he was also inside the scuderia for many, many years and he has contributed to the success that the team had in the in the past years.” he said, as per RaceFans.

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Charles Leclerc on his relationship with reported Ferrari TP frontrunner Frederic Vasseur

Frederic Vasseur (L) Charles Leclerc (C) Mattia Binotto (R)
Frederic Vasseur (L) Charles Leclerc (C) Mattia Binotto (R)

Frederic Vasseur is said to be the frontrunner for the team principal position. The current Alfa Romeo team principal worked with Charles Leclerc back in 2018, when the team was known as Sauber, and this is said to be giving a boost to his chances. While he did not comment on who he would prefer as Mattia Binotto’s replacement, Leclerc did admit that his experience with Frenchman has been ‘good’.

Leclerc stated that he and Vasseur ‘always had a good relationship’: “I can only comment on my experience with Fred [Vasseur], which have been good. I worked with Fred since the junior categories, where he has believed in me. We always had a good relationship. But apart from that, this should not influence any decisions.”

However, the Monegasque could not conclusively say if it’ll be Vasseur who leads Ferrari in 2023: “He has always been very honest, straightforward, and this is something I liked from Fred. Whether it will be him or not, I don‘t know. We will see in the next few months.”

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In a best-case scenario, the announcement and move would come before the end of the month so the new team principal starts the next year with the team. Currently, Binotto is still fulfilling his (contractual) duties as the team principal, but after the year, he’s gone, and the longer the wait for a new TP, the less time he will have to gel in with the squad.

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