Maurizio Arrivabene has left the position of Ferrari team principal and will be replaced by Binotto, who earlier was responsible for handling the technical aspect of the car and the team.
Binotto had been highly successful in dishing out a car that took the attack to Mercedes after years of domination.
Ferrari had the superior car for a large part of the 2018 season , thanks to all the developments made under Binotto’s supervision.
However, the way the team handled themselves on the race track did not do justice to the performance advantage that existed.
Ferrari Announcement https://t.co/RN5NTDgXqD
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 7, 2019
IT'S OFFICIAL: Major change at Ferrari for F1 2019 confirmed as Maurizio Arrivabene leaves and is replaced as team boss by Mattia Binotto
Story: https://t.co/eWYU7j1HJF#SkyF1 pic.twitter.com/15abtMCv45
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 7, 2019
Slowly, Mercedes found their mojo with respect to performance and pace and Ferrari had to settle for 2nd place.
Now, Ferrari have decided to move on from Arrivabene, largely due to the strategic blunders and have decided to put Binotto in charge.
In the official statement released by the team, they have stated the reasons for parting ways with Arrivabene.
They have clearly stated that the decision was taken by the top management and Arrivabene’s future personal interests were also taken into account.
Autobild also reported this:
"After Marchionne‘s death, Arrivabene took control of everything. And among other things he has done, he took away the control of the technology budget from Binotto. That's why the development of Vettel's Loria stopped."#F1
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) January 7, 2019
“With the architect of the team’s self-inflicted wounds gone, you will find no happy epitaph here.”
Some words, by me… https://t.co/mYKCkNoYrD
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) January 7, 2019
“After four years of untiring commitment and dedication, Maurizio Arrivabene is leaving the team.” the statement read
“The decision was taken together with the company’s top management after lengthy discussions related to Maurizio’s long term personal interests as well as those of the team itself.
“Ferrari would like to thank Maurizio for his valuable contribution to the team’s increasing competitiveness over the past few years, and wish him the best for his future endeavours.
“With immediate effect, Mattia Binotto will take over as Scuderia Ferrari’s Team Principal. All technical areas will continue to report directly to Mattia.” it added.
