Mattia Binotto to miss more races to aid Ferrari's 2022 focus

Ferrari

Binotto to miss more races to aid Ferrari's 2022 focus

Team principal missed Turkish Grand Prix to help with development in Maranello

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Thursday 14 October 2021 14:57 Updated: 15:04

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Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has revealed he will miss at least two of the remaining six races of the current season as the team reaches a crucial stage of development on its 2022 machine.

Binotto was absent from the Turkish Grand Prix last weekend to enable him to focus on managing work on next year's project when the sport will embrace a whole new set of regulations for the cars.

Asked why he was missing from the Istanbul paddock, Binotto explained: “It is one of the races I was targeting to be back home.

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"The calendar has changed a lot since the very start, so it changed my plans, but certainly Turkey was one of these ones.

“I will skip at least another two races before the end of the season, so at the moment I am planning Mexico and Brazil. The reason is especially Mexico and Brazil, overseas it is a long trip while here back in Maranello there is a lot to do.

“It is an entire thing to manage, both the chassis and the power unit and the entire organisation and, in terms of 2022 development we are in a critical phase where time is getting closer and closer, so I am happy to be [in Maranello].”

Binotto - Mekies doing great job as stand-in principal

Laurent Mekies, the team’s racing director, has been taking the helm while Binotto has been back in Maranello and while the Italian misses the paddock he believes it is the right thing to do to focus on 2022.

Ferrari is chasing down McLaren for third in the constructors’ championship with just 7.5 points separating the two teams, but Binotto is confident his stand-in can manage the season run-in where required.

“The way I am managing the race weekend, on Thursday and Friday being in the office I can be more focused on what is happening in Maranello while Saturday and Sunday are fully dedicated to the race weekend,” explained Binotto.

“Certainly I am missing the networks in the paddock but Laurent Mekies is doing a great job. I am very happy with the way he is managing the entire team when I am not there.”