Why John Elkann has not yet accepted Mattia Binotto’s resignation

28/11/2022 13:59

Mattia Binotto has handed in his resignation, although he is currently still the Ferrari team principal in charge with daily meetings on the 2023 Formula 1 car (known as project 675).

Important signs had already arrived last winter, as pointed out by Piergiuseppe Donadoni and Giuliano Duchessa in a recent article for formu1a.uno. Last year they wrote that “a large part of the future of the Swiss engineer depended on the 2022 car […] also taking into consideration the possibility that it is the current TP that is making the decision”.

This means that the solid performance of the Ferrari F1-75 at the start of the world championship was an important factor in extending Mattia Binotto’s stay in Maranello, slowing down a decision that sooner or later, without unexpected events, would have been taken by the top management. The disappointing second part of the 2022 Formula One season (re)ignited the issue, so much so that the Italian-Swiss team principal made the decision directly, resigning in what should be a consensual separation, if John Elkann accepts it and the lawyers find the best solutions and exit conditions for all.

There is money to discuss, gardening leave and also when Mattia Binotto will leave his office in the Sport Management; for Ferrari there is always a stock market issue that should not be underestimated. A resignation from the team principal would leave the market with important doubts and above all managerial changes of this magnitude always need announcements in short time.

Four team principals in nine years. The average of one every little over two years in one of the sports where continuity has often made the difference. “Stability is important. Red Bull hasn’t won for 9 years and hasn’t changed a technician or Team Principal, but also looking at Ferrari itself.” – Mattia Binotto had said in the post-Abu Dhabi press conference – “I was there in the era of Jean Todt who arrived in ’93 and won his first title in ’99. Six years is a long time but that’s what it took to build. They have been important years. I think stability is the best thing.”

However, the Mattia Binotto – Elkann axis never really worked and could hardly have worked in the next few seasons. The Italian-Swiss engineer also understood this, having accepted the idea of ​​having to resign sooner or later, leaving a team that was on his side until the last Grand Prix. It is no coincidence that, in the post-Abu Dhabi press conference, he wanted to make it clear by speaking of a “destabilized team” following rumors of his replacement and, above all, of a team that in the last weekend of the season had “mandated a signal about what they want”, namely permanence. Now the signal has been sent by Mattia Binotto, with his resignation.

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The visions between Mattia Binotto and John Elkann had been completely different for many months. Not only was the entry of Jean Todt, who would have been welcomed by Mattia Binotto, rejected by the top management, but also a collaboration proposal with Luna Rossa, to try to do the same as Red Bull and Mercedes, i.e. be more aggressive in terms of budget caps and not just by looking more at how the competitors work, and then ‘intelligently’ win.

After what happened before Abu Dhabi, the Maranello team expected updates from the team principal this week, in any case by 8 December. They believed that Mattia Binotto wanted, in the event of a separation, to leave as soon as possible after the media reported the news of his possible replacement, news that circulated in a very insistent way on the morning of November 15th and even from prominent people who work in other series, therefore outside of Formula 1. The team’s official denial had quickly arrived, but with a very light statement, without any direct comments made by the top management of the company. A silence that showed how the top management and the team were two separate entities at that time.

There are many names reported as a possible replacement for Mattia Binotto. Frédéric Vasseur, current boss of Alfa-Sauber, would be welcome in Maranello. There is already a verbal agreement, not the signature, after the Frenchman had expressed his desire to accept the offer, knowing he would be removed from Sauber in view of Audi’s entry from 2026. The Frenchman, who in Abu Dhabi did not deny the rumors that linked him directly, would be free from January, without gardening leave, with the role of team principal that could remain in the hands of Mattia Binotto until the end of the year or taken on an interim basis by Benedetto Vigna for a few weeks, a hypothesis which, however, is not fully convincing due to the signal of uncertainty towards the markets.

Fred Vasseur is a ‘corporate’ manager who enjoys the trust of Benedetto Vigna himself, of John Elkann, but above all that of Carlos Tavares, CEO of the Stellantis group, the company where Ferrari chairman John Elkann is a shareholder.

As pointed out by formu1a.uno, Fred Vasseur is not the only one on the Ferrari management list. After his name started to be indicated in a more insistent manner inside the paddock, people very close to president John Elkann wanted him to know that this is not a choice worthy of Ferrari.

However, the names evaluated in recent months, some much more well-known, have replied with only one similar answer: “No, thanks”. John Elkann is trying to make the last attempts to convince more prominent characters, including a former Mercedes man. Otherwise he will definitely turn to plan B, with Fred Vasseur in pole position, especially given the fact that he is not hindered by gardening leave. The pressure is now all on the management as a decision will have to be taken rather quickly, also because, once the news of Fred Vasseur has become public and the championship is over, Mattia Binotto has not left significant room for manoeuvre. Thus we risk going back a few years when, when Stefano Domenicali’s resignation arrived and Luca di Montezemolo put Marco Mattiacci in the role of team principal, in the absence of important and better alternatives.

While waiting for John Elkann to accept his resignation, Mattia Binotto looks ahead to his Formula 1 future. Four teams have already knocked on the Italian-Swiss engineer’s door, including Alpine, Aston Martin and above all a top team. And it is not said that, in that case, some prominent Maranello technicians may not want to follow him. Again, history would repeat itself.

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