'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has sympathized with Ferrari fans amid the team's poor run of performance in the 2025 F1 season. Binotto resigned as team principal of the Scuderia in November 2022, ending a 27-year partnership, which began with him working as an engine engineer at the team in 1995.
Frederic Vasseur replaced him in 2023 and continues to have the reins at the Italian team, having signed a multi-year renewal earlier this year. Unfortunately, Ferrari's performance has tanked in the second half of the season, and Mercedes has overtaken it for second in the constructors' championship.
Moreover, after the Singapore GP, Charles Leclerc lamented that the drivers had become 'passengers' in the car, unable to race effectively. Lewis Hamilton, who envisioned winning a record eighth F1 championship with the men in scarlet red, has yet to secure a podium and has reportedly sent documents to the team headquarters with proposals to change the team's working methods and streamline communication pathways.
Trending
Amid this rut, Mattia Binotto, who joined Audi in mid-2024 to lead the German manufacturer's F1 project, shared how he is 'suffering' his former team's failures as well. When asked by Autosprint about what he'd like to say to Ferrari fans in this phase, Binotto replied:
"That I suffer like them. And also for the many people who worked in Maranello, they give their heart and it's not easy to live with these results. I can say that I'm sorry, but on a professional level, I've turned the page and I have ambitious goals to achieve ."
In recent weeks, Frederic Vasseur's leadership came under the scanner despite the team showing faith in him with a contract renewal in July. There have been reports linking former Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner to Vasseur's role if the Scuderia fails to improve its performance under the new technical regulations in 2026.
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur reveals "main issue" affecting the team
Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur highlighted the team's "main issue" preventing them from a comeback. The Scuderia has had opportunities to achieve better results on certain occasions this season, but has failed to capitalize on them.
Vasseur used the example of the team's qualifying failure in Baku to make his point. The team had decent pace to be among the Top 5 runners, but in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton failed to make it past Q2, and Charles Leclerc crashed in Q3. In the race, they were left vying for the bottom points-paying positions in the Top 10.
"I think that the main issue is that we missed the good opportunities for us," Vasseur told The Athletic. "A weekend like Baku, I think, for example, we had the pace to do much, much better. It is like it is now. We have to pay more attention to execution, to do a good weekend."
Ferrari heads into the US Grand Prix weekend from October 17 to 18 on the heels of an underwhelming Singapore GP showing, where Leclerc was forced to lift and coast for a majority of the race, and Hamilton had a brake failure in the closing stages of the race. The 2024 US GP saw the Italian team's best result in recent years, a 1-2 led by Charles Leclerc.
