Toto Wolff rules out employing F1 rival Mattia Binotto for Mercedes: “Too much broken porcelain between us"
Binotto will 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:leave his position as Ferrari team principal at the end of the year after foඣur seasons at the helm follow🌱ing the Italian outfit’s failed title bid in 2022.
Despite enjoying his best season as Ferrari team boss, a catalogue of operational and strategic errors, reliability failures and driver mistakes allowed Red Bull and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen to run away with both world championships, prolonging the Scuderia’s long wait for F1 silverware.
Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Wolff admitted🦄 he was surprised ꦏby how long Binotto held onto the position before “the unavoidable happened”.
“It was always clear that he was under tr💟emendous ♔pressure,” Wolff said.
“Being team principal at Ferrari, you better have a good contract for your exit. Now probably the unavoidable happened, but he held onto it longer than I thought.🙈”
Wolff acknowledged th𒈔ere is “absolutely” more pressure that comes with being in charge of F1’s most famous team.
“In representing Ferrari you are represen🎀ting the whole country,” Wolff said. “They write you up an🌜d they write you down, but with brutality.
“Certainly team principal of Ferrari, as an Italian probably even more.🍨 Because as a foreigner yo﷽u don’t read the news.
“Bu🍬t as an Italian, you are in the firing line.♒”
Asked if there is a chance that Binotto could find himself landing a role at Mercedes or their High Performance Pow꧃ertrains division, Wolff replied: “No. I think there was too much porcelain broken between us over the last few years, that this would be possible.”
On their strained relationship, Wolff added: “I think that Mattia and I had our moജments, it’s no secret over these many years. But in a way we consolidated that in 2022. We were in a much, much betteওr place.”
Could Wolff have ended up at Ferrari?
Wolff was also asked if he would have entertained an offer from Ferrari prior to joining forces with Meဣrcedes in early 2013.
The Austrian, who now 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:owns a third ⛦of Mercedes’ F1 team, admitted he would have previously been interested in a move to Maranelඣlo had Ferrari made him a offer.
“We𒅌ll everybody who says he isn’t interested in being team principal at Ferrari just simply d▨oesn’t tell the truth,” Wolff said.
“I had to pinch myself until today that Daimler gave me the opportunity to become managing partner and co-holder,ಌ it’s something that I feel tremendously proud of.
“But equally, if Ferrari had come around the corner and miraculous🌌ly offered me such a position, it would have been the same.”
Lewis regularly attends Gra🦋nds Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the grou🍃nd, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
