F1 News: Maurizio Arrivabene to be replaced as Ferrari Team Principal - reports

What's the story?

In what will be another shakeup at the top of the Ferrari F1 team's management, current Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene is set to be replaced, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

In case you didn't know...

Arrivabene joined the Italian outfit in November 2014 and took over as team principal of Ferrari from Marco Mattiacci, who was appointed as the head of Ferrari's F1 team by then Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo.

Mattiacci had replaced Stefano Domenicali as the team principal of Ferrari after Domenicali resigned from his position.

The heart of the matter

Arrivabene has a little racing background, having joined the Ferrari team after years of being associated through Philip Morris, the owners of the Marlboro brand, who have been Ferrari F1 team's partners for a long time.

The report states that Mattia Binotto, the technical direction of Scuderia Ferrari, will replace Arrivabene as the team principal for the 2019 season. Binotto has been with Ferrari since 1995, starting off as a Test Engine Engineer, then progressing to the role of Race engine engineer, Chief Engineer, finally becoming the team's Chief Technical Officer in 2016.

His appointment as Team Principal will be the first major decision that Ferrari chairman John Elkann will make, after taking over from Sergio Marchionne, who was ill and then tragically passed away.

Ferrari finished second in the constructors' championship, while their No. 1 driver, Sebastian Vettel, finished behind eventual drivers championship winner Lewis Hamilton, after looking strong in the first half of the season.

The team will have a new driver as Charles LeClerc replaces Kimi Raikkonen in the team, with the Finn moving to Sauber.

What's next?

Ferrari will reveal their 2019 F1 car on February 15, 2019, while the first official F1 test will take place between February 18th to 21st.