Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has been under fire because of the poor performance of the F1 team and for the last couple of weeks, there have been rumours that he may be sacked when the season ends. Today, reports emerged that Alfa Romeo team principal Fredrick Vasseur would be his replacement in the next season, however, now Ferrari has now come out with a statement denying the report.
It had been reported that Vasseur is held in high esteem within Stellantis of which Ferrari was formerly a part of as a part of the FCA. FCA was owned by the Agnelli family which is headed by Ferrari chairman John Elkann. With the FCA and PSA merger to form Stellantis which includes the Alfa Romeo brand that sponsors the Sauber team and has been a long-time engine customer of Ferrari, there were rumours.
Even with Stellantis, the Agnelli family are the largest single shareholders and John Elkann is also the chairman of Stellantis.
“In response to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto’s position, Ferrari state these rumours are totally without foundation,” read the team’s statement.
Of course, Vasseur was considered even earlier in the summer due to his vast experience of running teams across junior formulas and has been instrumental in the closure of the Audi and Sauber deal as well.
That being said, even Binotto is well regarded as he was the man behind the engine revival not just in the 2022 season but also when Ferrari fell behind Mercedes in 2014 with the advent of the turbo hybrid era of F1. He was elevated to technical director and then eventually was made managing director and team principal because of his technical background.
Many believe that Ferrari should be closer to Red Bull and shouldn’t be fending off Mercedes for P2 in the constructor’s championship — but this has happened due to strategic mistakes, reliability issues and lack of development of the car.
