Ferrari boss Binotto to step away from races

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has revealed plans to attend fewer races next year and said he may not travel to all of this season's remaining events as he focuses on the bigger picture in a bid to get the team back to the front.

Ferrari finished second in the championship last season with three wins and a total of 504 points. This season, they have managed just two podium appearances – the last one 10 races ago - and collected just 103 points.

The team set up a new Performance Department in July, led by Enrico Cardile with Rory Byrne, the team’s Chief Designer in the early 2000s, becoming more involved, and Binotto feels he now needs to spend more time at the factory.

“I think, considering myself, you need always the balance, you have tasks at the racetrack and at the factory,” said Binotto. “The factory is important, where we are developing the cars.

“I will not follow the races [next year]. Even in 2020 I’m already considering skipping some of the races on the last part of the season, starting from Turkey. That’s [going to be] even more next year.

"At the end, when you’re responsible for an entire team, certainly the race event is important but the management of the entire team is even more important.”

The teams were shown a planned 23-race calendar for next season at the last race in Imola and many have confirmed they will need to begin rotating crew to cope with the intensity of the programme.

Each driver has a core team of engineers and data analysts working around them, however, and Binotto admitted it will be difficult to decide if and how to break up those teams to allow a rotation of crew.

He said: “We will certainly plan a turnover for all the persons that we can. I think that’s the best way, to make sure that we are somehow going through the entire season doing the right level of efficiency, concentration and focus

"By increasing the amount of races I think there are judgements that need to be done, to know where to return on some engineers, some technicians and eventually balance the duties.”

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