Ferrari crisis led to Mattia Binotto reflecting on his own future

Ferrari

Ferrari crisis led to Binotto reflecting on his own future

Binotto has been under fire but still has Ferrari's backing

Nicolas Quarles van Ufford

Friday 4 September 2020 18:12 Updated: 19:10

Mattia Binotto was left considering his Ferrari future after a horrific first half of the Formula 1 season for the team.

Replacing Maurizio Arrivabene as Ferrari team principal in 2019, Binotto has overseen three wins and nine pole positions.

In 2020 however, results have tailed off to such an extent that the Belgian Grand Prix saw Ferrari's first non-points score where a car had finished in a decade.

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Despite this, Binotto says he retains the support of the Ferrari board, telling Italian publication Corriere della Sera: “I know I have the support of my managers, but I questioned myself. I reflected on whether I can be suitable for the role of team principal.

“I could have done better in some areas, but I believe that my 25 years in F1 and the knowledge of this company are key elements to do well in this profession.

“I’m not alone, I can assure you. With Louis Camilleri I speak several times a day, and with John Elkann regularly. I get their advice, certainly their leadership style is different from what we were used to in the past. But I’m not alone, not really."

Although both Spa Francorchamps, where Ferrari finished 20 seconds out of the points, and Monza are both power-heavy tracks, Binotto remains optimistic Ferrari can build on the Spa perofrmance.

He added: “Spa has demonstrated the weak points of this car, from the engine to the aerodynamic efficiency. We could have done a little better but not too much.

"This is a different track, the corners are less difficult than those of Spa and the weather conditions are different and I'm curious to see how it goes with the new [technical] directives."

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