Binotto and Leclerc at odds: not talking to each other for months
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Ferrari was quick to point out this week to that all rumours were false: Team principal Mattia Binotto is definitely not being sent away and all stories claiming otherwise are nonsense. But slowly more and more inicates that there is quite a lot going on within the Italian team.
The Gazzetta dello Sport wrote this week that Binotto will still be the person in charge at Abu Dhabi, but would have to leave after that. Binotto has long been under fire for the way he led Ferrari. The team made a good start to the season, but due to some strategic mistakes, Ferrari is currently work hard to avoid falling back to third position in the constructors' championship.
Settlement culture
Within Ferrari, for years there was a culture of judging each other for what happened. Binotto tried to put an end to that. But not blaming each other for what happened seems to have started working against the team. It makes that no one takes responsibility for anything that goes wrong. Moreover - writes the French sports newspaper l'Equipe - the relationship between Charles Leclerc and his team boss is terrible. It has now come out that Leclerc has not been talking to Binotto since Silverstone. The Monegasque is reportedly still angry about a strategic blunder during this race.
Keeping the peace
It will undoubtedly be interesting days at Ferrari. Almost certainly, at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, all will seem okay. What happens in the following days will be interesting: will the Gazzetta be proved right and will Binotto indeed be fired?