For the first time in this season, Mattia Binotto will be handling the upcoming race weekend for Ferrari at Istanbul Park from his home in Italy.

The team’s sporting director, Laurent Mekies, applauded Binotto’s way of approaching his roles by calling it “innovative.” He also added that the approach will provide Binotto more flexibility in managing priorities effectively.

Speaking to Ferrari.com, Laurent opened up on his team principal’s decision to deal with the crew from Maranello. “Mattia has always approached his role in an innovative way, trying to think outside the box,” he said.

“He has come up with a method of working that gives the flexibility to manage the priorities in the most efficient way possible. He had already adopted this approach when he was a technical director and has applied it even more so now as team principal.”

Binotto Mentioned his intentions of taking this step following the race weekend in Imola. This approach will definitely be effective considering Formula One’s prowess when it comes to communication technologies. Hence, it is highly likely that more such team principals might also follow the footsteps of Binotto in the near future.

Laurent expecting the Ferrari team principal’s absence to be “strange“

Although Laurent sounded convinced that Binotto’s non-availability will not affect Ferrari’s on-track performance in any way, he still acknowledged that his absence might feel a bit “strange” at first.

“At first it might seem strange not to see him physically in the briefings or on the pit wall. But he will make use of all current communication technologies so that his and input will be loud and clear to everyone, both inside and outside the team!” he clarified.

As far as Ferrari’s upcoming race weekend is concerned, the team could be in for a tough race. Going into Friday’s FP1 session, the high-speed nature of the circuit will definitely put them in the back seat.

However, it is entirely up to their capability to figure out the perfect setup for both their drivers’ cars. Overall, if Ferrari manages to pull off a decent setup before the Qualifying session, then the fans could witness at least one of the cars in the top 10 by the end of Sunday’s race.