There Ferrari it is not a team like all the others, fans, enthusiasts and insiders of Formula 1 know it. The Prancing Horse is the essence of motor racing, a brand so famous and prestigious that it is much more than a sort of Italian national on four wheels, but a real cult. Not infrequently Mercedes and Red Bull, the main rivals of the Maranello team on the track in recent decades, have hoped for a return to victory for the most famous Red in the world, to give a different light to their battles on the track. But even in 2022, Ferrari had to postpone its dreams of glory to the following year, despite returning to success in a grand prix and despite having marked a decisive turning point in the last two years without satisfactions. However, the dazzling start to the championship made the limping continuation of the season even more painful, dotted with imperfections at all levels that allowed Max Verstappen and Red Bull to become champions with several races to spare.
And so it ended up on the grill Matthias BinottoFerrari team principal since January 2019, who in his four years as number one of the Gestione Sportiva has collected 7 wins, 23 pole positions and a second position among the Constructors in his first year. The Rossa hasn’t won a drivers’ title for fifteen long seasons and a laurel among the teams for fourteen. Since 2008 – when the duo made up of Raikkonen and Massa took home the Constructors’ championship -, at the head of the Prancing Horse on the track they took turns four team principals, Stefano Domenicali (6 years and 4 months), Marco Mattiacci (7 months), Maurizio Arrivabene (4 years and 2 months) and, indeed, Mattia Binotto (3 years and 10 months). Fourteen years, like the long reign of Jean Todt, who took office in July 1993 and took 2,313 days to win his first Constructors’ title in 1999, equal to 6 years and 3 months; and that he had to wait 2,656 before bringing home the coveted driver’s title with Michael Schumacher in 2000, 7 years and 3 months after the day he crossed the Maranello gate.
It is no mystery that the boundless love of the fans and the great interest around the Scuderia create a unimportant pressure both on the team and on the management that has to make the decisions. The football logic of “change coach” it is often compared to Ferrari. But in Formula 1, balls don’t roll, an individual can lay the foundations for a change, but not turn situations around overnight. The team principal is not replaced as frequently and compulsively as happens in football, precisely because of the organizational delicacy of the role. And because it is inserted in an internal and external political framework in which it acquires strength as it consolidates relationships, ties and position. In the face of a disastrous start to 2022, no one in Mercedes has thought of leaving Toto Wolff (also because he should self-exclude himself, being 33% team owner), in charge from afar 2013, when Stefano Domenicali was still at Ferrari. And so Red Bull has embraced the line of continuity, through thick and thin: Christian Horner is at the wall of the Anglo-Austrian team since 2005from the days of Jean Todt in red.
How long did it take for the Englishman to win the first world championship? 6 championships. And he remained firmly in the saddle even in the long period without success between the Vettel era and the Verstappen era, which lasted 7 seasons, in the logic of stability also applied to the minor Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri team, where Franz Tost has been for 17 years the responsible, never questioned. Horner didn’t win for a long time, he went through stormy seas – just think of the conclusion of the relationship with Renault and Honda’s chiaroscuro farewell -, but he returned to winning, in an authoritative manner.
Finally, a look at the names associated with Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur and Andreas Seidl. Vasseur has been in charge of Sauber since mid-2017, therefore over five years; Seidl has been in charge of McLaren since 2019, for four seasons like Binotto. And the case of the historic English team is emblematic: the path of continuity with the German manager was chosen despite a disappointing 2022, despite only 1 victory during his leadership and despite only one championship closed in the top3 among the constructors.
Changing coaches doesn’t pay in Formula 1. Unless the coach is Toto Wolff, who took over Mercedes in 2013 and dominated the hybrid era of the category from 2014 to 2021 (he won all the titles except last year’s drivers). But without the power unit revolution – politically decided in June 2011 and therefore well before the Wolff era – would the Austrian have been the most successful team principal in history?
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