2022 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[Peter Ian Staker]

I think the real question is "Does John Elkann have a clue of the tallents that Binotto's replacement should possesses".

You are expecting the finance guy or the semiconductor person he installed as CEO to know what qualities an F1 team principal should have?
Ideally they should have just hired a known good quantity and just let him cook but since none of these people seems to want this job we are down to Leclerc's management trying to dictate the next TP through the media.

Don't think Horner, Wolfe are looking for jobs and Todd and Brawn are retired.

If Elkan is making decisions based on LeClerc's opinion, Ferrari are lost. You need to be meeing with the people that feed into Binotto, including Binotto, regularly, one on one and to talk about what's going on. You need to have a pulse on the decisions being made and what the choices were. They Say that Binotto was trying to iliminate the blame culture at Ferrari, to spur creativity. It's easy, in that situation, for the buck to always stop at Binotto.

Regardless of the negative effect on creatifity, If you have a blame cluture, it's easier for a guy like Elkan to get info without doing any work. Maybe that's what he's looking for.

I like Binotto and thought they got rid of him to earily. Obviously, Elkan might know more than I think he knows and is doing this based of facts, he wants the blame game or his own guy.

They can't even get Tost or Seidl to think about it if the rumors are to be believed.
As I said Elkann should just let the TP cook. He cannot be expected to be micromanage the team like that with all the other things he got at his plate and frankly shouldn't because that's not how successful teams are managed.
Todt/Brawn were so lucky to have di Montezemelo to shield them from these sort of machinations.

[AR3-GP]

It's absolute madness that Binotto is gone before the strategy team.

[mzso]

It's absolute madness that Binotto is gone before the strategy team.

Maybe they are already fired, without being made public.

[Vanja #66]

- not prioritizing Leclerc right after Australia
- allowing TD039 to pass in its final form without veto
- still allowing many team errors in the final races of the season after Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary catastrophes

So no one thinks Binotto as the TP should have done anything differently regarding these things, at least?

Reading the latest posts it sounds like he did everything right this season

[F1NAC]

- not prioritizing Leclerc right after Australia
- allowing TD039 to pass in its final form without veto
- still allowing many team errors in the final races of the season after Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary catastrophes

So no one thinks Binotto as the TP should have done anything differently regarding these things, at least?

Reading the latest posts it sounds like he did everything right this season

The whole thing won’t make any sense if that friggin’ strategy team is kept in the team..

[NL_Fer]

Binotto was there 4 years. He failed 2 years because he decided to manipulate the flow sensor and thrown away the chance on a WDC because of bad tactics and reliablity. He’s a good guy, but failed as TP.

[the EDGE]

It's absolute madness that Binotto is gone before the strategy team.

Personally I think Binotto needed, & deserved more time, however…

The point is Binotto was responsible for the strategy team, it was his job to replace them, if fault lied with them. When a manager fails, he’s the one that pays the price, and his replacement replaces the strategy team

But… if Elkin new anything, he’d realise that strategy isn’t black & white, and given everyone time to learn & adapt

Still, Binotto wasn’t replaced, he quit, because obviously there was a difference of opinion between the 2 men that was irreconcilable

Shame, because Ferrari were destined for great things, until this happened

[AR3-GP]

It's absolute madness that Binotto is gone before the strategy team.

But… if Elkin new anything, he’d realise that strategy isn’t black & white, and given everyone time to learn & adapt

Rueda has been head of strategy since 2014.


When Renault/Alpine wanted to stop the rot, they sacked all of the incompetents (then replaced them with more incompetents, but that's for another thread...)

[mzso]

It's absolute madness that Binotto is gone before the strategy team.

But… if Elkin new anything, he’d realise that strategy isn’t black & white, and given everyone time to learn & adapt

Rueda has been head of strategy since 2014.


When Renault/Alpine wanted to stop the rot, they sacked all of the incompetents (then replaced them with more incompetents, but that's for another thread...)

And did he replace some other clown? Because Ferrari were a joke even before. Alonso following Petrov for almost a whole race is permanently etched into my mind.

[codetower]

- not prioritizing Leclerc right after Australia
- allowing TD039 to pass in its final form without veto
- still allowing many team errors in the final races of the season after Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary catastrophes

So no one thinks Binotto as the TP should have done anything differently regarding these things, at least?

Reading the latest posts it sounds like he did everything right this season

- Your first point, absolutely should have prioritized LEC.
- Regarding the 2nd, that depends on if the team truly believed that the TD would not have had a big effect. If thats the case, then whomever told him it was OK needs to be looked at.
- Point 3, The errors are really out of his control at the moment they are made.

Look, I'm not sure what went on behind closed doors... If Mattia is the one making all those decisions, then I absolutely believe he needed to be replaced. Maybe they approached him and told him to change certain people and prioritize LEC and he wouldn't agree. Or maybe the team is being pressured by Santander to keep Sainz on the same level as Leclerc, who knows.

What I believe is that Binotto hasn't done everything right, but he has done some good things. He was named CTO back in 2016, and as I understand it, was very influential in the SF70, which was a pretty good car. The fuel flow sensor... his only flaw was that he tried to exploit a loophole and got caught. I'm sure it wasn't the first, or the last time a team tried to exploit a loop hole. And then after that, the team came back, took on the new regulations, and was the ONLY team giving RB a challenge. And for this engine, I think the team did right in prioritizing power first, then work on reliability.

At the end of the day, I do agree with you though; As much as I like Mattia, I think it was time for him to step down as TP. I'm just surprised that the rest of the strategy team and crew is still there, and I'm a little concerned that he's out there, likely going to another team, with 28 years of Ferrari knowledge. Keep in mind, its not 28 years of mechanic knowledge, or Pit Crew knowledge... its CTO, TP, Director knowledge. Thats pretty big. But I guess we'll soon finally find out if it's a split turbo or not

[diffuser]

But… if Elkin new anything, he’d realise that strategy isn’t black & white, and given everyone time to learn & adapt

Rueda has been head of strategy since 2014.


When Renault/Alpine wanted to stop the rot, they sacked all of the incompetents (then replaced them with more incompetents, but that's for another thread...)

And did he replace some other clown? Because Ferrari were a joke even before. Alonso following Petrov for almost a whole race is permanently etched into my mind.

Oooooooof, that was a painful memory I didn't need reliving!

[Vanja #66]

The whole thing won’t make any sense if that friggin’ strategy team is kept in the team..

Agreed. Yet, what if some (previously quoted) reports are true and Binotto approved/pushed those strategies?

The fuel flow sensor... his only flaw was that he tried to exploit a loophole and got caught. I'm sure it wasn't the first, or the last time a team tried to exploit a loop hole.

I'd add he accepted the penalty that arguably left the team struggling with engine performance 3rd year in a row. Ross Brawn defended the indefensible 2013 Merc tyre test, RB got away with flexy wings for years and a significant budget cap breach got'em a slap on the wrist. It's not impossible to get away playing in the dark gray rule areas...

[f1316]

The whole thing won’t make any sense if that friggin’ strategy team is kept in the team..

Agreed. Yet, what if some (previously quoted) reports are true and Binotto approved/pushed those strategies?

The fuel flow sensor... his only flaw was that he tried to exploit a loophole and got caught. I'm sure it wasn't the first, or the last time a team tried to exploit a loop hole.

I'd add he accepted the penalty that arguably left the team struggling with engine performance 3rd year in a row. Ross Brawn defended the indefensible 2013 Merc tyre test, RB got away with flexy wings for years and a significant budget cap breach got'em a slap on the wrist. It's not impossible to get away playing in the dark gray rule areas...

Ultimately Binotto is responsible for those strategy decisions - whether he explicitly approved them or not - because he sets the ‘strategy’ for the entire team (including how they equip / think about / manage race strategy).

I’m not at all upset that he’s held accountable for those mistakes but doing it now, without a replacement ready to go, seems odd. Having waited this long, it seems like it would decrease their chances to win next year, unless they knew they had someone better all ready to step in.

That said, as previously mentioned, if it turns out they’re just crossing the t’s on the contract for someone seasoned to take over, then I doubt the impact will be great and if there’s a good car already in the wind tunnel (which is rumoured), it won’t mean all that much. I will be disappointed if they replace Binotto with someone junior or who has no track record of F1 success though. Better to promise from within (Cardile, Sanchez etc - and even Simone is really still part of the Ferrari family) if that’s the case.

[diffuser]

The whole thing won’t make any sense if that friggin’ strategy team is kept in the team..

Agreed. Yet, what if some (previously quoted) reports are true and Binotto approved/pushed those strategies?

The fuel flow sensor... his only flaw was that he tried to exploit a loophole and got caught. I'm sure it wasn't the first, or the last time a team tried to exploit a loop hole.

I'd add he accepted the penalty that arguably left the team struggling with engine performance 3rd year in a row. Ross Brawn defended the indefensible 2013 Merc tyre test, RB got away with flexy wings for years and a significant budget cap breach got'em a slap on the wrist. It's not impossible to get away playing in the dark gray rule areas...

I think they let Ferrari getaway with it. Then the said they were gonna tweak the sensors. How do you get the FIA to not tweak the sensors. Kind of like asking them not to increase the weight for any flex test. So once the FIA have an Idea of how you're getting your hand in the cookie jar without anyone noticing and start down the road of building a better mousetrap. The gig is up.

[Schippke]

I think they let Ferrari getaway with it. Then the said they were gonna tweak the sensors. How do you get the FIA to not tweak the sensors. Kind of like asking them not to increase the weight for any flex test. So once the FIA have an Idea of how you're getting your hand in the cookie jar without anyone noticing and start down the road of building a better mousetrap. The gig is up.

Thing is the FIA themselves couldn’t truly grasp how Ferrari was doing it… only that they had suspicions based on what the other teams were bringing forward. There was never any concrete evidence on it that was released; It literally took the FIA to ask Ferrari how they were getting around it and in coming clean, the details were kept private and a settlement was made… whether this was right or not (most likely not), is debatable.

The tyre test from Mercedes and the Wing Flex from Red Bull was clear for all parties to see… but the fuel flow saga, a lot less so.