Ferrari ‘cheating’ scandal among the reasons for Mattia Binotto’s departure, claims Peter Windsor

Peter Windsor, a Formula 1 journalist, believes that there were many reasons surrounding Mattia Binotto's exit from Ferrari other than the very obvious ones. He highlighted the controversy after the 2019 season when the team came under suspicion for using an illegal engine or something related.

According to Windsor, when it was ultimately revealed that the team were 'cheating,' it was Binotto's responsibility, and similar events like this led to his ultimate resignation from the team after 28 years of service.

Windsor stated in his Twitch stream:

"He came in more or less as standard, almost as a temporary team principal. Nice guy, quite a gentle person in general. You can go up and chat with him, he's a good guy and he's quite a caring person I think. But to me there were two main things that were a problem with him."

"They actually turned out to be cheating and that was ultimately his responsibility, because he was the engine man. And yet he kept his job, which is bizarre."

Within a month of the 2022 season, Mattia Binotto resigned from Ferrari, not just from the post of team principal, but from the entire team. This move was predicted by many since the team lost another season after having the opportunity to win it.

At the same time, Peter Windsor remained highly unimpressed with the Italian's job with the team as he pointed out many of the errors made by him. He also spoke about the potential strategic errors that the team made in 2022, which ultimately led to their loss.

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Windsor feels Binotto did not treat both Ferrari drivers equally

In addition to how Binotto wasn't the perfect team principal for the Ferrari, Windsor talked about a rather different topic. According to him, the Italian was much more comfortable with Carlos Sainz. He believes that Ferrari's other driver, Charles Leclerc, is much faster than the Spaniard, but he (Binotto) made things 'difficult and annoying' for Leclerc. Windsor stated:

"That's great for Sainz, but it was a difficult and annoying thing for Leclerc, who in reality and in my opinion is a faster driver anyway. There is more he can do with the car, especially in race conditions and especially under pressure in the final moments of qualifying."

Binotto was replaced by former Alfa Romeo team principal, Frederic Vasseur, who has been working with the team since the start of January. The Frenchman has clear goals set for the upcoming season and is expected to pull Ferrari out of their misery.