So whilst he is responsible, you’re expecting him to be the best engineer, technician, strategist, mechanic in the Ferrari Camp? I would suggest the head strategist should be the first to go. He can’t be the one changing everyone else’s decision on a whim. His advisers need to advise better imo.
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2022 Formula 1 Season thread
- Thread starter Apple fanboy
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Nope not at all, similar like any leader won't the best at all disciplines that would be a recipe for disaster. As my grandmother used to say; why have a dog and bark yourself...As the team principal it is without uncertainty that he is the person who is in charge of running a smooth and well oiled team. That also means understanding which parts aren't working and dealing with it in a timely manner. And that is the problem I suspect that the Ferrari chairman has with him, that he is not dealing with it in a timely manner. This season has been a catalog of issues, racers/mechanics/strategists/etc publicly not knowing who is in charge. It comes across as a total lack of leadership and that really is Mattia Binotto's role...His advisers advise, he needs to make the decisions, he needs to empower his leads in each section. And if he can't distinguish bad advice from good advice then he is just not team principal material. No shame in it, especially not when you recognise it yourself, it isn't a job for everyone, and definitely not one for nice guys. Well perhaps Günther is the exception to that rule
I suspect that there will be changes in the team. As Günther said in his recent interview with Tom Clarkson on F1 Beyond the Grid last week. Of a person isn’t performing you make changes. At first that is training, if that doesn’t work you need to find out where the person can be of better use.Nope not at all, similar like any leader won't the best at all disciplines that would be a recipe for disaster. As my grandmother used to say; why have a dog and bark yourself...As the team principal it is without uncertainty that he is the person who is in charge of running a smooth and well oiled team. That also means understanding which parts aren't working and dealing with it in a timely manner. And that is the problem I suspect that the Ferrari chairman has with him, that he is not dealing with it in a timely manner. This season has been a catalog of issues, racers/mechanics/strategists/etc publicly not knowing who is in charge. It comes across as a total lack of leadership and that really is Mattia Binotto's role...His advisers advise, he needs to make the decisions, he needs to empower his leads in each section. And if he can't distinguish bad advice from good advice then he is just not team principal material. No shame in it, especially not when you recognise it yourself, it isn't a job for everyone, and definitely not one for nice guys. Well perhaps Günther is the exception to that rule
Getting rid of Mattia Binotto seems pretty short sighting and throwing the baby out with the bath water. Typical Ferrari tbh. I can’t see Fred Vasseur doing any better if they don’t make other big changes in the team. They’d be setting him up to fail.
Red bull had the least wind tunnel time as winners this year and have had it further reduced for cheating last year. They will be up there but I don’t think it will be as easy as this year turned out to be.
Merc are on the up and surely Ferrari can’t be as comical.
Yes definitely, that is how you deal with the 'workers' in the team. But not with the Team Principal position when you've been three years in the job already and still don't deliver results.
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Constructors
2020 Ferrari - 6th
2021 Ferrari - 3rd
2022 Ferrari - 2nd
Drivers
2020 Ferrari driver - 8th/13th
2021 Ferrari driver - 5th/7th
2022 Ferrari driver - 2nd/5th
In what way haven’t they delivered results?
Exactly, people talk like not winning is a failure. Only one team can win every year and as long as you’re making progress I don’t think it should be seen as a failure.
Ferrari were hilarious this year but they’ve certainly improved, just not as much as Red Bull have been able to.
He deserves at least another season, if the team are still shooting themselves in the foot then questions need to be asked about why he’s letting it happen.
I think with the budget Ferrari have always had, the expectation is they should be at least challenging for both championships each year. Don’t forget that additional payment they get above every other team on the grid for being part of F1’s brand. Luca DM has been threatening to leave the sport since the 70’s and that £20m a year sweetener has not been put to good use even before the budget cap came in. I don’t think they’ve won a WC since 2008.
Didn’t that sweetener get removed? Either way there’s a cost cap so they can’t spend more now.
It’s clear Ferrari have been a shambles for a long time but they’re on an upward trajectory.
They’ve certainly had enough money to invest in the infrastructure for car development over the years. They just need capable leaders within the team now.
Fair point, well presented 👍 They've definitely improved over the past few years in absolute figures.
That doesn't tell the whole story though, they had championship winning vehicles, drivers with great potential, and it is clear they team doesn't quite gel together. And that is without knowing what goes on behind the scenes. When playing at the top level one has to deliver top results. And yes I know they still got second place but with a huge margin as well. So I'm not surprised he is at risk.
Exactly, Max is a great driver and there is a fantastic team. But Ferrari had a real change and opportunity and they let it slip away. Many a race was won not just on racer and speed but also strategy and pit crews etc.
When did they have a championship winning vehicle?
Sure it was fast this year but the reliability was awful and I’m not sure you can pin that on him.
3 issues isn't that awful in my opinion, but yes of course it can be pinned on him. He is the team principal. If he isn't responsible and accountable for the team then who is?
Nobody plans to design or manufacture an unreliable car. That might eventuate and then it’s hard to change mid season.
If it’s still unreliable next year sure I think you can pin it on him but realistically what can he as team principal do if the engineers or manufacturers have made a mistake?
Did they really only have 3 failures? I know that the engines over the other teams certainly had more and I felt like Ferrari itself did.
The CEO of Ferrari is on record that he believes not winning is failure, hence Binotto being shown the door (willingly or unwillingly).
You only need to look at other professional sports to see why this is flawed logic. Ferrari are certainly moving in the right direction I don’t see how changing principal makes any sense right now. If the plateau or fall back the maybe.
That’s Ferrari I guess. And it’s great to have those lofty goals. But regardless of the car the CEO is responsible for, there is still Red Bull, and I don’t think anything was going to stop them this year. The fact they were 2nd is more about Mercedes making a huge error in design in 2021 (which will be fixed in 2023), which stopped them being 3rd.
When drivers crash, that’s on the driver (ask Mick Schumacher). When a strategy is wrong (time and again) that’s on Binotto to fix with either education or replacement. They need a Hannah Schmitz in the team. But as has been said many times.
Ferrari is a young team. They will get more experience. But don’t thrown out the guy who has been improving them until they stop improving.
Ferrari may have finished second this year but Mercedes had a shocker. If they close the gap as we expect this winter I see Ferrari finishing third no matter who is in charge.
Though they had a legitimate claim to doing so early in the season, Ferrari was lucky to finish 2nd in the WCC and WDC because of unforced errors. And I expect teams that had a tough 2022 will do better in 2023, which will only make Ferrari's job to maintain either, much less both, that much harder.
