Mattia Binotto revealed that the toughest moment of his foray as Ferrari Team Principal was informing Sebastian Vettel that his contract won’t be renewed.
One would expect the decision to submit his resignation from his role as Ferrari boss should’ve been the toughest moment of his career, but that’s apparently not the case as that decision was most probably taken for him knowing Ferrari and how things are handled there.
So, in 2020 and even before the season – delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic – started, Binotto was tasked to inform four-time Formula 1 Champion Sebastian Vettel that his contract will not be renewed.
Reflecting on the German’s time in the sport and at Ferrari, Binotto said: “First, Sebastian is a great, great driver, and I don’t think it’s myself telling it, it’s really what he has achieved – fantastic, outstanding, amazing.
“As Ferrari, we have been lucky to have him as part of the team and it has been six important years. He brought a lot as a driver, but more than that, I think he brought a lot as a person, and each single Ferrari fan still loves Sebastian.
Ferrari still loves the German
“I think it’s a matter of fact, as each single fan loves Ferrari still, I think we in Ferrari, all the people in Ferrari, are still loving him, and that’s the way we are feeling. They have been incredible years, I think,” he added.
Binotto spoke of the decision to let the Vettel go, he recalled: “[It was] difficult for myself, coming to the end, somehow to announce to him that we will not renew.
“That maybe has been the most difficult task I’ve done myself through my career. When you love such a person and you really enjoy working with him, it’s always difficult to come to the end.
“I think it has been an important moment as well for my career itself, because from that… through difficulties you become stronger. But it’s the one that we will remember as the most difficult one,” Binotto maintained.
Vettel deemed his time as Ferrari as a failure, as he came close to winning the Championship twice in 2017 and 2018, but fell short to Lewis Hamilton on both occasions.
Ferrari failed as a team in Vettel’s days
Binotto, asked if he thought Vettel’s assessment was true, believes it wasn’t only the driver’s fault but also the team as a whole; he commented: “I think he is somehow right.
“When he joined Ferrari, he was ambitious, his objective was to win the title with Ferrari, and I think together with himself, it was our dream and our objective as well,” he pointed out.
“It has been a failure for him, but it has been a failure all together as a team,” the former Ferrari boss insisted. “He has been very close, or the closest he has been was ‘17 and ’18, so we had a few opportunities.
“We didn’t get it and I think when your final objective is to do that, and you do not achieve it, it’s a failure,” Binotto summed up.
Now, and since he’s also out of Ferrari, Binotto can reflect on his own time at Maranello, a good opportunity to evaluate whether it was a failure or not…
As for us, we can only wait to see if Binotto’s successor Ferederic Vasseur will fare any better.
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