During the 2020 season, the Ferrari Formula One Team endured one of their worst seasons in recent years. The iconic Italian team finished 6th in the Constructors Championship and did not secure a single race win. The team principal for the team, Mattia Binotto, was largely blamed for the poor performance throughout the season. Several fans of the sport even created petitions calling for Binotto’s removal. Now, recent rumours from Maranello have emerged stating that Ferrari has chosen to fire Binotto from the team principal position ahead of the 2021 season.
Written by Aryan Desai, Edited by Aiden Hover
Binotto, who previously served as the chief technical officer for the team, was promoted to the team principal position in 2019. His predecessor, Maurizio Arrivabene, was fired after only 3 years of holding the position. The removal of Arrivabene as team principal was not a shocking one, as the Maranello-based team has always been quick to take action against personnel as soon as their results begin to falter.
The timing of this management change would not bode very well for the Prancing Horses. Testing for the 2021 season begins in less than a week with the first race of the season soon after. This period is very crucial for teams in terms of finalising their strategy and assessing their capabilities before the season begins. Binotto leaving the team at this stage would result in complete disarray, undoubtedly hindering the team going into the first race at Bahrain.
There are currently no reports as to who might be stepping in to replace Binotto as the new team principal. Ferrari might take some notes from Alpine and not have a single team principal for the season but rather have various personnel share the critical role. As for Binotto, there is a possibility that he might stay with the team for technical assistance or might work with Ferrari in other categories of motorsport.
As Ferrari hopes to forget about their performance in 2020, it will be interesting for fans to see how this management change could affect the team in 2021.
To read about Ferrari’s new engine plans, click here.
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