Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Binotto. Or do.

I wholeheartedly disagree. He's toxic.

Not so. He plays mind games with his drivers by giving them false information or withholding information from them over the radio. He doesn't come across as trustworthy - I'd hate to work for Steiner.

How you have this impression of him is beyond me.

Ferrari drivers are already tightly wound by media pressure and the weight of the tifosi's expectations. The last thing they need is someone like Steiner who seems to think that a good way to motivate someone is to imply their drive is at risk and that perfection is the minimum that will be acceptable.

I despair listening to Steiner. I couldn't care less for what that man has to say. He'll say whatever he thinks will get the reaction he wants - he's the least straightforward person I can think of in modern F1.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Vasseur would be perfect. Like Jean Todt all his carreer was around leading teams
He took to victory names like Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, Leclerc, Russel, Hulkenberg, Vandooene, etc.....he knows how to lead a team, i think he's perfect.....not just for Sainz cause he won't get more gifts like Silverstone.

 

You are entitled to your opinion.

You may be wound up by Steiner "releasing" Mick Schumacher for all I know. He certainly didn't mollycoddle him.

Steiner looks after the interests of his team and extracts a lot from a low budget at Haas.

At Ferrari, the drivers aren't the problem . The pit crew work isn't up to standard, the strategy and tyre choice are not consitent.

Steiner would certainly rub some people the wrong way, doing the job a proper team principal is supposed to do.

 

I have been reading the Italian press.
Lots of conjecture, accurate or not.
It will be good when we get some facts.

 

Since we are in speculation mode, how about Vasseur to Ferrari.
Sainz and Binotto to Alfa (to be known as Santander Sauber)
Bottas to Ferrari.
Charles, we have you a wingman

 

Exactly...and so what regarding 2019? Everyone knows they got caught. Even if it was swept under the rugs...hasn't exactly been successful and everyone that has followed F1 in the last few years knows about it.

 

He’s drooling because he’s hungry for it.

 

You're putting words in my mouth.

My wife and I have long read into the little snippets and throwaway comments from Steiner over the years where he seems to think that the best way to motivate someone is to:

• Insinuate to them that they don't have his full confidence and they need to try harder, generally trying to artificially create additional pressure because he thinks it will be a motivator.
• Give misleading or fabricated info to drivers over the radio during a race, such as telling each of the team's drivers simultaneously that their teammate is setting better lap times.
• General mind games with people who work for him, mainly drivers, and demonstrating very little respect or courtesy for them as fellow professionals in the sport

If you'd like to talk about recent driver changes, in the case of Steiner recruiting Hülkenberg and letting Schumacher go, he said in the media that he'd decided to go with Nico but deliberately ghosted him after they had been chatting daily to see if Nico kept trying to get in contact with him as a test to see if he wanted the drive badly enough. After telling Nico he had the drive, he admitted he was testing him - so now Nico arrives wondering how to interpret his new boss's words and actions. Throughout all this, he was still saying publicly that he hasn't decided, was taking his time, and that good results and not crashing the car would factor favorably towards Mick getting a drive next year. Yet Haas never seriously opened contract negotiations with Mick for 2023. Mick actually found out from Steiner in the hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi that he didn't have a drive next year. What kind of employer fires someone in a public setting where you're potentially surrounded by coworkers, friends, competitors, fans, and the media? Mick was owed the respect of a closed door meeting over that, not because of his famous father but because that's how professionals handle those kinds of situations. That's how I handled these situations when I had to let people go from an organization. Regardless, given no negotiations had taken place and how the season went, I doubt Mick was surprised even though he got confirmation in a hotel lobby.

So, no... not wound up over him not renewing Mick Schumacher, that decision is understandable given how their partnership has gone, the status of the Haas team, and that Haas don't want to be nurturing/developing drivers. I'd have made the same call in those circumstances, but wouldn't have been scheming about it with either Mick or Nico. What irritates me about Steiner is how he conducts himself and how things he says can't be taken at face value or trusted to be the truth. He might be a good engineer, but as a manager he manipulates people with little "tests" and lies, which doesn't make him look trustworthy to me. I personally wouldn't want to work with someone who I don't regard as trustworthy. Unless you trust your boss, they're not going to get the best out of you, so I don't want to see a known dysfunctional team boss brought into my favorite team to try to turn things around. The Scuderia can do better than Steiner.

Vasseur if recruiting from F1 doesn't seem a bad choice. Alternatively, we could look outside of F1 to other racing team bosses... that worked pretty well with Todt who came from WRC.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

+1

And I actually like Steiner as a person, but he's definitely not right to lead Ferrari.

 

You do know that he is close to Wolff and Mercedes?

"Charles, the Mercedes are faster than you".

 

Vasseur does have a good CV but really not sure about him based on what Alfa has done since LEC’s first year there. Maybe I just answered my own question.

Vasseur did put a stop to the Giovinazzi experiment when he realized it was going nowhere, though. So credit to him for that.

 

Like I said, you are entitled to your opinion.

The way you depict Steiner reminds me a lot of Enzo Ferrari himself, and how he used to get the best of his drivers.

The Commandatore too used mind games, set his drivers against each others, manipulated them, gave them wrong information to motivate them.

He also sacked some drivers and collaborators on the spot amid big scandals.

Forget Steiner, the Scuderia needs a ruthless principal, a guy that starts kicking asses, and get rid of the dead weight.

I think too many staff there at different levels of the organisation think they are untouchable like if they were working for the Vatican.

 

Steiner would be a nightmare....you guys want more drama at Ferrari, he is your guy!
All I know is that for years Ferrari never won when they had a fistful of Italian personnel running the team. I am Italian and proud of my heritage, but I can tell you that our culture has a very high opinion of themselves, especially when they have titles in front of their names. The majority of the time, they will always think their ideas are the correct ones, which means, they are very very difficult to work with.
When Schumacher came to Ferrari, they had a Frenchman, a couple of Brits and a Japanese.....driver championships started to materialize.
I think they need to clean the house starting with Binotto. Vasseur seems like a good choice, he has some pedigree.

 

Can someone confirm that he is officially gone? He is like a cloud hanging over the off season and the future season.

 

Not yet officialy, but you can uncork thye champagne and serve it in the glass...just don't drink it, not yet!

 

announcement likely on monday

 

From: Ferrari

To: Binotto

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

 

On a human level, I am sad it didn’t work out for Binotto. I think he is a decent man, especially compared to his predecessor.

Ferrari must get it right with his successor.

 

Will MBS create a job for Binotto at the FIA, so that he can become a mole for Ferrari ?

 

Personally, I never found much wrong with Maurizio Arrivabene.

 

I doubt it.

Que Andy Williams " It's the most wonderful time of the year......"

 

Would be nice if the TP actually had a clue about the sport...Maurizio...well. He failed in F1 and now he is failing in football. Being a tough guy isn't some leader quality.
I'd much rather take Vasseur's calmness.

 

It worked with Flavio Briatore: 4 WDC + 3 WCC titles as team principal, from a guy who knew nothing about F1 !

 

I agree. In fairness he never should have been appointed to the position. He’s highly qualified for some things, I gather, but not for that role.

 

Binotto should have had the good sense of turning down a job he wasn't fit for.

Sometimes internal promotion provokes some inertia in the organisation.