Who will succeed Binotto at Ferrari? An overview of the candidates

Now that Mattia Binotto has officially left Ferrari, the team will have to look for a replacement. Many names have been mentioned recently to succeed Binotto. See below an overview of the candidates.

Frederic Vasseur

When the rumours of Binotto's resignation initially surfaced, Vasseur was immediately named as his doomed successor. The current Alfa Romeo team boss brings a lot of experience and is known in the paddock as a capable team boss. He also already has experience in coaching Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc as the two worked together when Leclerc drove at Alfa Romeo (then Sauber) in 2018. In addition, Vasseur is by no means certain of a future role at Sauber if Audi takes over there.

However, a rumour recently surfaced that people in Ferrari's garage are not waiting for Vasseur at all. Ferrari is looking for the title win and there were doubts about whether Vasseur was the right person to lead the team to that spot. And so Ferrari would continue to look for other candidates.

Benedetto Vigna

Vigna is Ferrari's CEO and one of the most powerful people in the organisation after board chairman John Elkann. Vigna will serve as interim team boss for the coming period while the team searches for a replacement for Binotto. It is possible that Vigna will stay on longer than that, although he certainly does not have the best papers for a position as team boss.

Vigna does not come from motorsport or business. In fact, he is a physicist and inventor. His most notable invention is that of motion control sensors used in the Nintendo Wii. In total, Vigna has more than 100 patents to his name. He was appointed CEO of Ferrari by Elkann in June 2021. According to rumours, a lack of trust from Vigna and Elkann contributed to Binotto's departure.

Antonello Coletta

Like Vasseur, Coletta was also mentioned early on as a possible successor to Binotto. Coletta is currently director of Ferrari's GT branch. Under his leadership, the team has regained the top spot in Le Mans racing and is aiming for the title in 2023. Coletta is well known within the organisation and has achieved great successes within his racing class.

Gerhard Berger

Berger is a former driver who drove for Ferrari in the 1980s and 1990s. After his racing career, Berger went into management: in 2006 he became team boss of Toro Rosso where, with Sebastian Vettel as driver, he managed to win a race for that team for the first time. In 2008, Berger left that team again but a few years later got a significant position within the FIA. So Berger has the papers to take up a managerial position.

Ross Brawn

Legendary within Formula 1. Brawn has decades of experience and even worked at Ferrari before during the team's successful period with Michael Schumacher. In 2009, he bought out Honda's Formula 1 team and promptly won both championships. That team later became Mercedes and Brawn moved on to the FIA, from which he has since departed again. Brawn has since reportedly been on Ferrari's radar to take over Binotto's spot. However, Brawn announced his retirement on Monday and so it is highly unlikely that he will actually take up the position of team boss.

Sebastian Vettel?

Anyone looking at the posts surrounding Binotto's departure on social media today will often see Vettel's name come up. Even some major publications like ESPN refer to the recently sacked driver.

While it is not unusual for drivers to move on to other roles within the team, it is unlikely that Vettel will do so at this point. The German drove his last race just a week and a half ago and will want to take a break from the sport in the coming period. Possibly Vettel will return at a later point but for now that will be a while away.