Ferrari are Not Finished with Restructuring their Personnel

A source from Sky Italy reports that changes at Ferrari are not finished “Binotto knows very well that the amount of work that awaits him is greater than the already demanding one he had to face in the last two seasons. An important and experienced person will arrive soon.”

“I believe that a technician (the one that will arrive soon) will be able to allow Binotto to delegate work without any worries, an experienced trustworthy person.”

Ferrari will boost its 2019 budget in a bid to finally beat Mercedes to a world championship this decade.

The fabled Italian team challenged hard in 2018, but team and driver mistakes ultimately meant Mercedes won its fifth consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

During the course of 2018, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne died, and CEO Louis Camilleri took over.

Camilleri said this week: “In 2018 we achieved our best result since we last won the championship, and for 2019 the goal is to win.

“I repeat that in 2019 our goal is the world championship title, so there will be an increase in investment to reach that goal,” he added.

Italian media estimates put Ferrari’s 2018 budget at about EUR 430 million, some EUR 20m shy of Mercedes.

Maranello has seen a host of changes ahead of the new season as Ferrari look to improve on another pair of runners-up spots behind Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in 2018, Sebastian Vettel falling short yet again.

Alongside Vettel in the driver line-up is Monegasque prodigy Charles Leclerc, who will become Ferrari’s second-youngest driver in history when the lights go out at the Australian Grand Prix in March.

Changes have also been made at the very top of the team, with Mattia Binotto replacing Maurizio Arrivabene as team principal.

Binotto previously led the Scuderia’s technical team and was seen as a chief architect in Ferrari’s ability to close the gap to Mercedes in the power stakes last year, and arguably nudge ahead for spells, although the team could not capitalise fully.