Horner has sympathy for Binotto: 'He did a good job'

Christian Horner has expressed his sympathy for Mattia Binotto. In an interview with Motor Sport Magazine the Red Bull team boss reflects on his 2022 rival and looks ahead to what Fred Vasseur can do at Ferrari.

Binotto's departure from Ferrari at the end of 2022 started a new round of the 'silly season', this time among team bosses rather than drivers. Alfa Romeo team boss Vasseur was brought in as his replacement and is tasked with doing what Binotto failed to do: win the title.

Things had been rumbling at Ferrari for some time and Binotto was regularly criticised for the way he led. Over the course of 2022, Ferrari saw a wide lead in the championship evaporate and questionable strategies and poor on-track performance made it impossible for the Italian racing stable to keep up with Max Verstappen. Still, in terms of results, it was Ferrari's best year since Binotto took charge.

'It was a big step forward'

Horner acknowledges as much. " I’ve sympathy for Mattia, because ultimately he’d done a good job," explains the Red Bull team boss. "Last year, that was a big step forward from where they had been, so that must be tough for him after such long service that he had given to Ferrari."

Looking ahead to next season, Horner does not yet dare to pass judgement on Vasseur. "Fred, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s still arguing about the same points that he was for Sauber in upcoming meetings! But again, he’s a very capable guy. So yeah, it’ll be very interesting. I’m sure they’re all very capable people. So we’ll get to see what the dynamics are at the next Formula 1 Commission meeting."