As Ferrari are going through turbulent times after Mattia Binotto’s resignation, fans demand a stronger new team principal. While there are many capable team principals in the F1 paddock, few are available to take the job. Mercedes’ Toto Wolff recently talked about how tempting the top job at Ferrari is and the conditions under which he could have joined them.
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Toto Wolff is the most successful team principal in Formula 1 currently. Winning 8 consecutive constructors’ championships, the Austrian’s record since joining the team speaks for itself. While Toto is the Mercedes team principal, he is also the team’s CEO and part owner with a 33% stake. That makes it impossible for him to jump ship easily.
Toto Wolff talks about the attraction of the Ferrari team principal job
Toto Wolff recently appeared for an interview on F1’s official podcast “Beyond the Grid”. The Mercedes boss talked about Ferrari’s situation of late and how he would have happily taken the job if they offered it to him before he joined his current team.
Toto said, “Anyone who says he is not interested in playing the role of Ferrari team principal is not telling the truth. Even now I have to pinch myself at the thought of being team principal and co-owner of Mercedes. I feel very proud of this. But equally if [in 2012, before joining Mercedes] Ferrari had come and miraculously offered me such a position, it would have been the same.” [Translated using Google]
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Ferrari had a difficult season despite starting off strongly. Charles Leclerc won two of the first three races, which gave fans hope for the Prancing Horse’s much-anticipated resurgence. The car was quick and gave Red Bull a run for their money. However, as the season progressed, the car didn’t. Moreover, some faulty race and tire strategies left a bad experience for the Tifosi.
Carlos Sainz looks back at the disappointing 2022 season
While Charles Leclerc had a comparatively better season, finishing in the runner-up position, his teammate Carlos Sainz was never in the picture. The Spaniard had 6 DNFs owing to unlucky crashes and the car’s reliability issues. He also kept struggling to adapt to the car throughout the season and could only manage a single win at Silverstone.
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Formula 1 quoted Carlos as saying, “I had tougher and easier years, but never such a challenging year as 2022.”
“I found myself in a position where I was driving with this car, I was constantly off the pace in the first five, six races, and I had to fight a lot to change some things in my driving, some things on the car, try to get the car a bit closer to my liking.”
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As the rumor mills keep churning, who do you think will fill Mattia Binotto’s shoes at Ferrari? Will the Prancing Horse see better days ahead?