Mattia Binotto admits he has considered his future as Ferrari boss amid the team’s worst start to a season since 2009.
An underpowered engine and draggy chassis has seen the Scuderia battle in the midfield for much of this season, with two podiums for Charles Leclerc the only highlights.
That lack of performance, however, sees Ferrari currently sit down in sixth in the Constructors’ standings, behind Renault, Racing Point and third-placed McLaren.
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team announced a shake-up of its technical department as an attempt to fix the problems that seemingly hold the Italian back.
But one change that doesn’t seem likely at this point is at the top despite Binotto’s own concerns.
“I know I have the support of my managers, but I questioned myself. I reflected on whether I can be suitable for the role of team principal,” he told Corriere della Sera last week.
“I could have done better in some areas, but I believe that my 25 years in F1 and the knowledge of this company are key elements to do well in this profession.”
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Binotto also denied suggestions that Ferrari’s leadership structure left him too isolated at the top.
“I’m not alone, I can assure you,” he replied. “With [CEO] Louis Camilleri I speak several times a day, and with [chairman] John Elkann regularly. I get their advice, certainly their leadership style is different from what we were used to in the past. But I’m not alone, not really.”
On the track though, the situation remains poor as the Scuderia went back-to-back races without scoring a point for the first time since 2009 on the high-speed layouts of Spa and Monza.
And after their worst result with both cars in 10 years in Belgium, Sunday saw Ferrari fail to finish with either driver in Italy for the first time since 1995, as a brake failure ended Sebastian Vettel’s race after just eight laps, while Charles Leclerc emerged unscathed from a horrible crash at Parabolica.
“Certainly it’s the worst possible conclusion to a difficult weekend,” Binotto told Sky Sports.
“Not finishing the race it’s even worse and not performing, especially with Seb [Vettel] which was a reliability issue on the car, so I think it’s time to look forward.
“I think all these problems for us are lessons learned and we must make sure in the future that we are doing better.”
What the Ferrari boss is absolutely hoping for though, is that after two low downforce circuits, the twists and turns of Mugello and other upcoming tracks are maybe a little more suited to the aero-heavy SF1000.
“Certainly we knew that Spa and Monza were going to be difficult for us and the worst ones,” Binotto continued.
“Hopefully the next one can be a bit better but in the end, I think the performance of the current car is certainly not what we would like.
“But I think it’s more important for us to make sure that we are looking ahead and progressing with car development.”