F1 News

Hill on Binotto rumours: 'Ferrari should bring him back in'

Published

1y ago

May 17, 2023 / 2508 Views

Evan Walker

Damon Hill believes that Ferrari should look to appoint Mattia Binotto into a technical role instead of allowing their former Team Principal to join a rival Formula 1 team.

Following the public criticism from CEO Laurent Rossi in recent weeks, there are rumours that Alpine might look to bolster their technical team with Binotto, or replace Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer altogether.

Binotto is currently serving a period of gardening leave after leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2022 season, when the team failed to sustain a championship challenge against Red Bull.

The Italian worked his way through the Ferrari ranks by serving in several technical roles prior to his appointment as Team Principal.

However, the 1996 World Champion believes that Ferrari should have repositioned Binotto instead of allowing him to leave the business altogether.

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“I thought it wasn’t the right role for him,” said Hill on the F1 Nation podcast.

“He’s technical, and I think he’s very important to the team. I think he’s got enormous talent, and I’d bring him back in and say 'okay, you can run all the technical side of things' and obviously he's a very bright guy, but I don't know if that's possible politically.

“There’s another aspect to being a team principal, which I think that some people are good at. A lot of it is about arguing over money, or the strategy or the marketing in F1. It might not be his prime focus, it might not be the something that you love and is your passion.

"But I was surprised that they [Ferrari] couldn’t fit the two in [Binotto and Team Principal Fred Vasseur], because I think Fred Vasseur is that sort of guy, he understands racing.”