Ferrari's Mattia Binotto provides insight into internal atmosphere within the team

Ferrari

Ferrari's Binotto provides insight into internal atmosphere within the team

The Scuderia boss outlines his duties.

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 7 January 2020 16:00

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Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has provided an insight as to how his duties within the team have changed since being promoted to his current role before the start of the 2019 campaign.

Prior to last season, Binotto was a key member of the Scuderia’s technical and engineering staff, working mostly behind the scenes, but was thrust into a harsher light a year ago as he was selected to replace Maurizio Arrivabene.

Now, as well as focusing on car development, he now needs to tackle extensive managerial duties, after claiming that "ninety per cent of the Gestione Sportiva is made up of technicians".

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"My new role covers also the other ten per cent: communications, marketing, sponsorship, legal," Binotto told the official Ferrari magazine.

"Just as there have been other areas added, in which perhaps I'm less qualified. You could say that, whereas before, as Technical Director, I was used to just spending, now as Team Principal I have to think about making savings or even creating earnings.

"Something that comes partly from my engineering studies and from having grown up in Switzerland, I'm convinced that it's important to have rigorous procedures.

"It's what helps me to manage a structure as large as ours.

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"On the one hand it's true that you have to look after relations with individuals. The human, emotional side is fundamental, but on the other hand it is a complex machine that has to work perfectly.

"Above all, in Formula 1 everything must function efficaciously and efficiently.

"To be clear, the problem is not how to develop something with 1,000 horsepower, but to do so before the others do, so it's precisely having efficient processes that enables you to be quicker at developing things."

The Swiss-born engineer admits that when he was working in a background role with Ferrari, he assumed he would never gain the opportunity to direct the team from the pitwall during a F1 race - a feat which he achieved in his debut in the position at the Australian Grand Prix.

"When I was still a motoring engineer, I used to say to myself 'sooner or later you'll stop attending races and the one thing that you'll later think that you have missed out on will be not having done a race 'al muretto' - on the pit wall,” he added.

"Instead I made my debut there, in a position from which you have a completely different perspective compared to the box."