Rumour: Ferrari fires Binotto as team boss before F1 season starts

Red Bull Content Pool

Rumors

6 March 2021 at 10:48
Last update 6 March 2021 at 12:09
11
  • GPblog.com

There are rumours that Mattia Binotto will be dismissed from his position as team principal before the start of the season in Bahrain. The Maranello based team would like to wait and see how the car performs during the winter tests at the Bahrain International Circuit and then dismiss the Italian.

That is the rumour that The Judge 13 came up with on Saturday morning. According to the website, which has been right more often than not about matters in Formula 1, Czech Ferrari GT driver Josef Kral is said to have spoken out a little via his Youtube channel. The video has since been set to private.

Farewell to team boss

Kral supposedly said that it has been decided internally that Binotto will be fired. Ferrari are reportedly just waiting for the three days of testing next week to see how the SF21 performs. If expectations are met, Binotto will be given a dignified farewell and 'thanked for building a good car for the team'. He himself says that the rumours have been taken out of context.

Ferrari already has Laurent Mekies as its successor to the 51-year-old Italian. Last week it was announced that Binotto would no longer be present at every Grand Prix in 2021. Laurent Mekies would then take over Binotto's duties and manage everything on the circuit during the weekend. If the rumour is true, Mekies is the ideal candidate to take over.

Binotto has already found a new job

According to Formula 1 journalist Serhan Acar (almost 100,000 followers), Binotto will work as a member of the FIA World Motorsport Council, representing Ferrari. This is to prevent Binotto, who is still considered one of the best engineers in the premier class of motor sport, from moving on to Red Bull Racing, Mercedes or any other team.