Guenther Steiner is sure there will be “opportunities” for Mattia Binotto to return to F1

Mattia Binotto 'left' Ferrari at the end of last season, but he's still a widely respected technical man. Guenther Steiner expects him to be back in F1.

Guenther Steiner is sure there will be “opportunities” for Mattia Binotto to return to F1

Guenther Steiner (L) | Mattia Binotto (R)

Mattia Binotto was ousted from Ferrari at the end of the 2022 season. Last season, Ferrari started strong, but soon, it all unraveled. After the first three races, they looked destined to win, or take the championship fight to the brink. The F1-75 looked strong. But, in the first half of the season, they lost truckloads of points from strategic errors, and reliability failures. Then, after the summer break, the race pace fell off considerably, and in the end, they could only manage a P2.

Being the team principal, and the public face of the team, Binotto bore the brunt of this criticism. Nothing less than winning was considered enough, especially when the package was that competitive. For a while at least. The supposedly ‘disturbed’ relationship with Charles Leclerc was another cause of concern. And so, after 28 years in Maranello, Binotto ‘left’ Ferrari.

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But despite the unceremonious exit, he is still a widely respected engineer and technical man. As soon as his gardening leave, one can expect him to be in hot demand. As such, Guenther Steiner, who’s worked with him extensively, thinks Binotto will be fine. In an interview with Mirror Sport, the Haas team principal said: “He’s doing good, he’s fine. I think he’s in a good place.”

Binotto joined Ferrari in 1995, in the engine department. He eventually rose to team principal, and worked for them almost 3 decades! Leaving the team would have definitely been hard. On this, Steiner said:“He worked at Ferrari for a long time, I think 28 years. It was his first job there and he was never anywhere else, so obviously when you get hit with this, it’s difficult. But I think he’s moved on from it and is looking forward to his future.”

Read More: “He’s in a good place,” Gunther Steiner reckons Mattia Binotto can bounce back from his Ferrari exit

Guenther Steiner’s take on Mattia Binotto’s future

Guenther Steiner (L) | Mattia Binotto (R)
Guenther Steiner (L) | Mattia Binotto (R)

It’s hard to predict Mattia Binotto’s move. Perhaps a team like Audi could bring him on – he’s still widely respected as an engineer, of course. Guenther Steiner, for his part, is sure that the former Ferrari team principal will have “opportunities”. Steiner added: “I don’t know what he’s working on but, for sure, there will be opportunities for him. If you ask me, yes. Don’t ask me where, when and why! But I think yes.”

Steiner also had only good words for Binotto’s replacement, Frederic Vasseur. He said: “The good thing which came out is that I get on very well with Fred as well. I had a soft landing. At Ferrari there are a lot of people, not only Mattia, and I have a good relationship with the guys there so it’s pretty positive.” He also added that Vasseur would have been his own replacement for Binotto. So what transpired “couldn’t have ended better” for him.

It’ll be interesting to see if, and when Binotto makes his return to F1. Currently, he’s serving gardening leave, of course, but soon enough, he will be free – perhaps to come back to haunt Ferrari, after signing with a rival?

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