Mattia Binotto comments on suspicions of Mercedes given ILLEGAL help: “I have full trust in FIA that she’s a professional”


Mattia Binotto comments on suspicions of Mercedes given ILLEGAL help: “I have full trust in FIA that she’s a professional”

Mattia Binotto

The F1 paddocks are always abuzz with some new breaking news and this time, the rumors have led to a conspiracy theory involving the Mercedes AMG Patronas team. In a recent announcement made by the FIA, Shaila-Ann Rao, former special advisor to the Brackley outfit, has been appointed as a temporary Secretary General for Sport at the governing body of Formula 1. The hiring of a former team executive in an authoritative position at the FIA has led to some unrest amongst the teams. There are many personnel from the offended teams who suspect that Rao might be involved in leaking some information to Mercedes because of her allegiance to the Stuttgart-based team.

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Among the ones who have spoken up about the suspected foul play involving Shaila Ann-Rao and Mercedes, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto was one of the first to address this issue. He expressed his scepticism about the fact that Rao’s previous experience working with Mercedes might lead to an unfair advantage for the German car manufacturer in certain crucial matters in F1.

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Mattia Binotto voices his concerns about the FIA appointing former Mercedes executive as a Secretary General for Sport

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto speaks out about Mercedes'former employee Shaila Ann-Rao
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto

A few days ago, a controversial technical directive issued by the FIA raised some eyebrows as they had said they would get rid of porpoising to help the Mercedes team. Now, there is a conspiracy theory going about the F1 paddocks that Shaila Ann-Rao had a hand in fast-tracking the decision about the porpoising since she had former allegiance to Mercedes.

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Speaking on the topic, Mattia Binotto said, “It is a concern, no doubt. But I have as well the full trust in the FIA that they will prove that obviously she’s a professional, she’s a lawyer, and she’s got integrity.

“I have confidence for the future that they will prove that my concern is not a concern. Toto said that they did it overnight. What I can say is that Ferrari would not be capable of doing it. And no doubt I’m surprised that a team is so strong in doing that overnight. We can maybe only trust what he’s saying…

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