news Formula 1: Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto to leave at end of year

Mattia Binotto has been involved with Ferrari for 28 yearsMattia Binotto is to leave his position as Ferrari team principal at the end of the year.A statement from Ferrari on

Tuesday said the 53-year-old had resigned from his role and that the process to identify a replacement was "underway". Binotto, who has been with Ferrari since 1995, said: "With

the regret that this entails, I have decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari."It is right to take this step, as hard as this decision has been for me." Binotto worked his

way up through the company to first head the engine department, then be technical director of the entire F1 team and finally to lead it.He leaves at the end of a season in which

Ferrari achieved their goals of returning to winning races, but which was marked by a series of reliability failures and operational errors.Binotto said: "I am leaving a company

that I love, which I have been part of for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the conviction that I have made every effort to achieve the objectives set. "I leave a united

and growing team. A strong team, ready, I'm sure, to achieve the highest goals, to which I wish all the best for the future."Ferrari chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna thanked

Binotto and wished him well, adding that his work meant the team were "in a strong position to renew our challenge, above all for our amazing fans around the world, to win the

ultimate prize in motorsport".Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur has been tipped as Binotto's replacement.Why has this happened?Ferrari's statement announcing Binotto's

resignation comes two weeks to the day after the company described reports in Italy that he was to leave the team and be replaced by Vasseur as "totally without foundation".At the

final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi, Binotto seemed to have no intention of leaving his position.He said that he had "had a chat" with Ferrari chairman John Elkann, in

which they had "discussed openly what was the best way to move forward" and "decided to release a statement that was maybe the best way to close any speculation" .Yet it was an

open secret within F1 over the Abu Dhabi weekend that Binotto was to leave, and that Vasseur was being lined up as his replacement. And now the "speculation" has, as expected,

proved to be accurate.Binotto has paid the price for not addressing Ferrari's weaknesses this year. He achieved his target of returning the team to competitiveness, but Ferrari

squandered their first winning car since 2018 with a series of operational errors and reliability failings.Their driver Charles Leclerc left the third race of the season with a