F1 News: The truth behind Mattia Binotto's Ferrari exit
Further information has emerged surrounding Mattia Binotto's resignation from Ferrari, one of the most significant developments in Formula 1 this year.
The former Ferrari team principal has faced sustained pressure throughout his time in charge of the team's operations following an embarrassing campaign for the Scuderia in 2020.
Despite a reasonable recovery from Ferrari in 2021, there was still speculation surrounding Binotto's long-term prospects at the team.
Ferrari's fantastic start to the 2022 campaign largely silenced these rumours, but the rapid deterioration of the team's title hopes as the year developed saw this uncertainty return.
Binotto's resignation was unsurprising when considering the flurry of reports emerging about this future in late November.
Perhaps the most obvious indicator of the terminal nature of the ex-team principal's role was his sub-optimal relationship with John Elkann.
The first whispers of Elkann's distrust in Binotto emerged more than a year ago.
Evidently, the Ferrari executive's lack of confidence reemerged as a significant issue following the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
It is understood that Binotto's resignation resulted from a rapidly deteriorating relationship with his superiors, as Ferrari's upper management grew frustrated with the team's on-track difficulties.
Considering that no replacement has been announced to take the helm as team principal, it seems clear the Italian squad is evaluating the options - however limited - in the market.
A recent report from formu1a.uno has further emphasised the longevity of Binotto's precarious position at Ferrari, which has been in jeopardy for over a year.
There has been some degree of on Binotto's time as Ferrari team principal, with some highlighting Ferrari's impressive recovery to produce the highly competitive F1-75.
Binotto deserves credit in this area, and his technical skills will give the Maranello squad another area to address for 2023.
However, the utter collapse of Ferrari's 2022 campaign cannot be ignored - and Binotto holds plenty of responsibility for the team's failure.
It could be argued that Ferrari's leading figures never truly trusted Binotto to lead the team, hence the decision not to reintroduce Jean Todt to the team as Binotto requested.
Irrespective of this evident rift at Ferrari, the repeated failures throughout the season are difficult to justify, and it seemed inevitable that change was incoming at Maranello.