Mattia Binotto quits! Ferrari team principal reportedly resigns as search for replacement on

Reports have come in that Mattia Binotto has submitted his resignation from Ferrari after days of speculation. Formu1a.uno reported that Binotto sent in his resignation to the team, but the team is yet to accept it as it is still searching for a replacement. Meanwhile, Binotto's Alfa Romeo counterpart Frédéric Vasseur has emerged in the news as the frontrunner for his position.

The Prancing Horse's disappointing performance in the 2022 F1 season, despite the potential they possessed, is largely to blame for his move. There, however, may be other factors too. The team has already seen four team engineers in the last 14 years and if Binotto does quit, he will be the fifth to do so.

Ferrari have developed a lot over the previous seasons, which was apparent from their flattering performance in Bahrain in 2022. The team had maximum points after a 1-2 finish, with Charles Leclerc looking set for a championship battle. It was only a matter of time, however, before costly mistakes crept in.

Multiple strategic errors snatched wins away from Leclerc, causing him to fall back in the standings. Concurrently, reliability issues brought down the team's and Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz's overall points. They had their most devastating race in Azerbaijan, where both drivers suffered retirements and the team left Baku empty-handed.

There were other incidents, too, where the drivers were asked what the best possible strategy would be. This showed the team's incompetence, and Binotto was largely blamed for the mistakes. This became the reason why many thought that he should not be the team principal anymore.

Though the team finished 2nd this season (which is a sign of development), Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna stated that he was not satisfied with the results since the car had enough potential.

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Ferrari in search of a replacement for Mattia Binotto

Ferrari are currently unstable when it comes to their team principal. Despite having some extremely good talent in the past, the current events within the personnel can affect their development for the upcoming season.

As quoted by formu1a.uno, Mattia Binotto had earlier spoken about the stability in the team, saying:

"I was there in the era of Jean Todt who arrived in '93 and won the first title in '99. Six years is a long time and it took to build. These were important years. I think stability is the best thing."

Frédéric Vasseur, the current team principal of Alfa Romeo, is being reported as a potential replacement for the Italian, seeing the development he has had at the Swiss team. While Binotto's three decades' worth of experience could prove to be useful for Ferrari in the technology department, it has not been confirmed if he will remain a part of the team at all.