Toto Wolff said the exit door was "unavoidable" for Mattia Binotto as he reacted to the Italian's resignation as Ferrari team principal.
Binotto was promoted to the job at the start of 2019 and had a rocky four-year tenure. The real low point was in 2020 when Ferrari finished sixth in the constructors' championship, but by the start of this year they had recovered to the point where they had a car many tipped to win the 2022 title.
Alas, for all their engineering success they were ultimately hampered in the strategy department – some power unit reliability issues did not help either. And so after a year in which his team flattered to deceive, he decided it was time to step down.
A major factor in Binotto's decision is believed to be that he no longer feels he has the full confidence of Ferrari's executive director John Elkann. That has led to the general consensus that, although his departure has been framed in the context of him resigning, it is widely suggested that he has been forced out by the team's top brass.
Wolff did not always see eye to eye with Binotto, as is often the case between rivals in competitive. top level sport. That was illustrated most vividly in the latter's first season in charge of Ferrari, when the Italian team was embroiled in a controversy which saw them pelted with accusations of using illegal engines.
Wolff referenced that relationship as he discussed the Ferrari situation, and appeared to have some sympathy for Binotto. "Mattia and I had our moments, it’s no secret over these many years," the Mercedes chief told F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.
"But in a way we consolidated that in 2022, we were in a much better place. It was always clear that he was under tremendous pressure – being a team principal at Ferrari, you better have a good contract for your exit. And now probably the unavoidable happened. But he held on to it longer than I thought."
Referring to the added pressure of being in charge of Ferrari, the Austrian added: "You're representing Ferrari, you're representing the whole country – and they ride you up, they ride you down, but with brutality. So yeah, certainly team principal of Ferrari [there is more pressure], probably as an Italian even more, because as a foreigner you just don't read the news. But as an Italian, clearly you are in the firing line."
After Binotto's exit announcement, talk turned to who will replace him for 2023. Frederic Vasseur is expected to be the man brought in, with one report claiming the Ferrari hierarchy has already decided on the Frenchman and that the announcement of his move will be made in the next few weeks.
