Charles Leclerc bust-up marked the beginning of the end for Mattia Binotto at Ferrari, claims F1 journalist

Peter Windsor, an F1 journalist, believes that what happened with Charles Leclerc in the 2022 season was a big reason why Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's former team principal, resigned from the team soon after the end of the season.

While the news of Binotto's resignation came after the season had ended, Windsor feels that he had seen it coming from much earlier in the season, especially after what happened at the British Grand Prix that slipped the win out of Leclerc's hands.

There was a lot of fuss around the paddock when Ferrari made a mistake in their strategy, not for the first time in the season, but again at the British GP. Charles Leclerc was in a winning position for the race, however, he wasn't called in during a safety car incident and was left out on the hard compound tires, which cost him the victory. Windsor stated on his Twitch stream:

"I think it all came to a head when Charles was inexplicably left on track for the restart of the British Grand Prix."

Similar incidents during the entire season led the Maranello-based team to lose a potential championship victory, even after having a clear way towards it and a competitive car.

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Windsor knew that Binotto's 'days were numbered' with the team after the mishap with Charles Leclerc

Footage of Binotto and Charles Leclerc was later circulated on social media, where the team boss was explaining something to the Monegasque and had flicked a finger at him. Windsor claims to know the reason why he did that:

"Binotto did that finger flick to Charles with the message: Don't talk like that, I'm the boss here. That is not possible. At that moment I also thought: This man's days are numbered."

As it happened, the team ended another season without a championship. Because the team was blamed for a lot of incidents, there was a lot of pressure building on them. In December, Binotto officially announced that he was leaving the team and was soon replaced by Frederic Vasseuer, former Alfa Romeo team principal.

Vasseur is expected to bring glory back to the Maranello-based outfit after a long dry spell and he has been seen working seriously for the same. He recently made some bold statements that defined the goal for the team, which was winning the championship.

The Frenchman also brought out some positive news for the Scuderia fans, revealing that the reliability looks good for the upcoming season's challenger, though the strategy still remains to be discussed.