F1 News: Toto Wolff gives verdict on Binotto's Ferrari departure
Toto Wolff has spoken about his relationship with Ferrari's former Team Principal, Mattia Binotto, explaining his perspective on the changes at the Italian squad.
Ferrari has spent almost a decade trying to match the performance and efficiency of Mercedes, who have now established themselves as a titan in Formula 1.
The significant changes in the Maranello squad underline the prolonged spell of instability within the team as Ferrari fights to reclaim its former Championship glory.
Binotto deserves credit for the highly impressive performance of the F1-75, which looked especially strong in the early stages of the season.
Whilst reliability issues started to emerge as the season progressed, Ferrari still found itself in a significantly more competitive position than in previous years.
As quoted by formula1.com, Wolff spoke about Binotto's resignation from Ferrari:
"I think Mattia and I had our moments. It's no secret over these many years. But in a way, we consolidated that in 2022.
"We were in a much, much better place. But it was always clear that he was under tremendous pressure.
"Being a Team Principal at Ferrari, you'd better have a good contract for your exit. Now, probably the unavoidable happened, but he held onto it longer than I thought."
The tremendous wealth of resources at Ferrari means there can be very few credible excuses for failure to achieve Championships in Formula 1.
Binotto's deflection of Ferrari's strategic and operational shortcomings throughout 2022 was also problematic, as fans grew tired of the persistent issues that cost the Scuderia vital points.
Mercedes, meanwhile - for the first time in several seasons - still lacked the pace to outperform their Italian counterparts in 2022.
With Fred Vasseur arriving to lead Ferrari's charge next season, Toto Wolff will be eager to re-establish the Silver Arrows as Championship challengers next season.