Binotto could be absent from Styrian GP – report

Jamie Woodhouse
Mattia Binotto, Ferrari team principal

Mattia Binotto wants more relevant Saturday mornings on sprint qualifying weekends.

Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto may not travel with the team to Austria for Formula 1’s double-header, according to a report.

It is an approach which the Scuderia used last season, with Binotto moving away from the race team and staying at their Maranello base for several Grand Prix weekends, remaining in contact with the team from there.

And ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ferrari completed a reshuffle of their staff which created another different system, allowing Binotto to manage races from the garage instead of the pit wall.

The changes saw Laurent Mekies go from sporting director to racing director, Inaki Rueda then moved into Mekies’ previous role and Ravin Jain, a young British engineer who has been with Ferrari since 2016, became the new head of strategy.

And Motorsport.com now report that with this structure in place, Binotto could return to Maranello after the French Grand Prix as he switches focus to Ferrari’s 2022 efforts.

That would mean that Binotto would not be present at the Styrian Grand Prix, part two of Formula 1’s upcoming triple-header and also the first of two planned races on back-to-back weekends at the Red Bull Ring.

The report adds that Binotto is likely to miss further rounds of the 2021 season beyond the Styrian GP.

Charles Leclerc's Ferrari after 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying
Charles Leclerc's Ferrari after 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying

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Ferrari very much see 2022 as the season where they can potentially return to challenging for race wins and titles, with their last taste of Championship glory coming all the way back in 2008 when they topped the Constructors’.

As well as the totally redesigned car which Ferrari, and all teams will introduce for the 2022 campaign, the Scuderia also plan to come armed with a redesigned power unit.

A recent report by The Race stated that much of the innovation is centred around the combustion technology to boost the internal combustion engine, while “significant gains” are believed to have been found in the energy recovery’s electrical system.

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