Reports have emerged in the Italian media claiming the Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is set to be replaced at the helm of the fabled Formula 1 team.
A report in La Gazetta dello Sport claimed Ferrari Chairman John Elkann has decided to replace Mattia Binotto at Ferrari by Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vassuer.
The report claims that the switch will take place in January 2023 over the F1 winter break.
Ferrari started the season with arguably the best car on the grid, the F1-75 being a handy piece of kit, with which Charles Leclerc has claimed nine pole positions.
However a litany of strategy and operational errors by the team, not to mention reliability problems meant that the Monegasque has to settle for runner up in this year’s Championship, that is if Red Bull’s Sergio Perez does not beat him to it in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
The latest of those errors was at the 2022 Sao Paul Grand Prix, where Ferrari sent Leclerc out on a dry track with Intermediate tyres bolted to his F1-75, while all other 19 drivers were on Softs.
Leclerc failed to set a time on the Inters and after a Red Flag caused by George Russell binning his Mercedes, the weather got worse and the Ferrari ace couldn’t set a time, he qualified tenth.
Vasseur under consideration since summer
The report claims that Elkann has been evaluating Vasseur as a replacement for Binotto since last summer under pressure from top management to replace Binotto.
Vasseur run the Ferrari powered Alfa Romeo team owned by the Sauber group that operate from Switzerland, and is a respected figure in F1 and motorsport.
Alfa Romeo announced they will break their ties with Sauber at the end of 2023, and after that Audi – planning to enter F1 in 2026 – announced they will join forces with Sauber, the Swiss team becoming a works outfit for the German marque.
Report in progress…