Ferrari Boss Reveals how he Nearly Quit the Team

Mattia Binotto took over the reins as Ferrari team principal following the dismissal of Maurizio Arrivabene. The Swiss-Italian man has had a long history at the Scuderia. He first began his Ferrari tenure in 1995 as part of the engine department. He remained with the Maranello outfit all this time, even heading the engine department in 2013. Three years later, he was appointed as Chief Technical Officer in place of Mercedes-bound James Allison.

In 2018, the Prancing Horse had one of their best starts to the season. However, due to mistakes from Sebastian Vettel and the team, they managed to bottle their advantage. Mercedes promptly took their struggles as an open invitation to catch up and the status quo of the past 4 years was restored. Binotto admitted that seeing their title chance slip through their fingers, nearly made him quit the Italian squad.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera, he said, “I thought I was no longer in a position to do my job well, and I made it known. This was not only a difficulty of mine but also related to the whole group because even if a technical director does not work at his best, everything is reflected in those he coordinates.”

“Yes, it’s true: other teams were looking for me because my experience has value in F1. I’m a Ferrari fan since I was a child. I’ve never thought of another team except Ferrari.”

Sometime ago, there were whispers in the rumour mill that there was a supposed feud brewing at Ferrari. These rumours claimed that the feud was between Arrivabene and Binotto, leading to the sacking of the former. However, Binotto quelled those rumours, saying that Arrivabene’s departure was for a different reason, which he did not specify.

The new Ferrari boss also opened up on working alongside well-known former Ferrari members since 1995. He reminisced, “Working here for 25 years I was lucky enough to also live glorious moments with [Jean] Todt, [Ross] Brawn and [Michael] Schumacher. And then with Stefano Domenicali.”

“I have always learned from everyone, even from Maurizio and I thank him for this.”

“The personal relationship has always been good. Never a fight.”

“The difficulties involved the vision, the management of the group or a race weekend. We had different points of view.”