Former Ferrari boss Binotto reveals whether he would have signed Hamilton
19:00, 12 Oct 2024
6 Comments
Mattia Binotto believes his successor, Frederic Vasseur has "not revolutionised" the way Ferrari work. The current Sauber COO and CTO also says he would not have signed Lewis Hamilton to the Scuderia, but the Scuderia's former team principal is happy to see that the Italians are doing well.
Binotto: 'Vasseur has not revolutionised Ferrari'
According to Binotto, he does not believe many things have changed at his former team since he left. "I would rather say what I have seen in Ferrari. Fred has been able to continue the project through continuity. He has not revolutionised a structured and functional organisation, although of course he has also made his own choices. If Ferrari wins, I am happy because I know the team and how much effort it has taken to bring it to a certain level," the Italian told Corriere della Sera.
'I wouldn't have chosen Hamilton as Ferrari team boss'
A key decision Vasseur made was to sign Lewis Hamilton to the team, however, he does not believe that was the right call. "No," was the Italian's clear answer. "But he did well to go to Ferrari, he made a good decision," he added about the Mercedes driver's upcoming switch.
The 54-year-old Italian has a clear reason why he would not have signed the seven-time world chapion. "Ferrari had set its sights on other drivers. And if Leclerc is the star driver, then he is the one we should somehow guide to his goal," Binotto said.
Binotto left Ferrari after the 2022 Formula One season. Under the Italian, the team were heavily criticised, even as only they could challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing at the start of the season with Charles Leclerc. However, the strategic decision went wrong on multiple occasions and at the end of that season, the Italian was replaced by at the time Sauber team principal Vasseur.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!
Read more about:
Today
Rumors
"..."Ferrari had set its sights on other drivers. And if Leclerc is the star driver, then he is the one we should somehow guide to his goal," Binotto said..."
The truth! Simplicity, elegance and truth go hand in hand, always!
Some drivers attract sponsorship ...where does that feature in the arithmetic ...like checco
Thats a lot of money, by my maths total points so far x your value per point would make Max' value to be 54,946,000, Lewis' value to be 44,892,000 and Charles to be 33,810,000 have I got that right cos that suggests all are well overpaid !!
You're correct with the statement that they are overpaid.
In life, when you make a decision to buy something, you normally look at getting good value for your money, or 'bang for your bucks.'
In other words, for the $$ that you pay a driver, how many points is he getting you, compared to the other drivers in the field and also your two drivers in the team. Or how much does it cost the team for every point the driver earns for the team.
Top 5 highest paid driver :
Max : $166,000/point
Lewis : $258,000/point
Charles : $138.000/point
Lando : $71,000/point
George : $116,000/point
Very clearly who is being overpaid!
Best value drivers :
Piastri : $25,000/point
Yuki : $45,000/poiont
Looks like McLaren have got the best value from their two drivers.
Nice comment and fair point.
$ per point is one thing.
But top/expensive drivers usually have way higher market value which can earn teams quite some money. I'm talking about tens of millions, hundred of millions if not in some cases billions. All through such as commercial rights and sales for example. That's one of the reasons why drivers end up getting such high salaries and bonuses of all kind. Being a multiple champion also helps.
If you take the above into account HAM who doesn't look very good comparing $ per point, has in reality a tremendous amount of value. The highest of every other driver.
TSU on the other hand will by far not help as much to sell MB/Ferraris. ?
I can be wrong, but I feel like the decision to get HAM came from way higher than the F1 team principal. I don't think Vasseur would have much to say if he would have preferred to keep SAI.
Now luckily, as everyone knows, Vasseur and HAM know each other for very long time.
It must be fantastic for both to work with each other again. Some kind of back to the roots and it will be fantastic to witness.
The Ferrari brand needs HAM also for another couple of extremely important tasks. HAM will beat hands down every other driver on the grid in those tasks.