Severe criticism of Binotto: 'Seemed deliberate how we lost some races'

René Arnoux is happy that Ferrari has parted ways with Mattia Binotto. However, according to the former Ferrari driver, the Italian team should have said goodbye to its team boss much earlier.

There will be a new team boss at the helm of Ferrari in 2023 with Frederic Vasseur. Binotto has left Ferrari, although it is clear to everyone that there was no longer confidence in the team boss within Ferrari either. According to Arnoux, it was about time the team boss left, after years of mediocre performance.

Criticism of Binotto

''I didn't like seeing Ferrari start very competitively before they dropped out. It is true that reliability was not good, but some Grands Prix we almost seemed to lose on purpose,'' the Frenchman told La Gazzetta dello Sport. According to the seven-time GP winner, that is Binotto's fault.

''The mistakes he (Binotto) has made in Formula 1 are unforgivable for me. I have never been on his side. Someone who says 'next year will be better' doesn't deserve that place. I would have fired him years ago.''

According to Arnoux, the biggest mistake Binotto and Ferrari made was merging the roles of team boss and technical director. ''Merging those two roles was a mistake. In hyper-specialised Formula 1, you cannot do everything (yourself),'' the Frenchman concludes.