“Each single day” is difficult in F1 but Ferrari is united

He’s experienced the highs of brilliant victories, and even a 1-2 in the season opener in Bahrain, to the agony of seeing other successes slip through his fingers through engine blow-ups, drivers errors or strategy stumbles.

For some, the rollercoaster of emotions through the campaign would perhaps be too much to bear.

But for Binotto, who has been plotting Ferrari’s recovery plan since he took over at the start of 2019, the thing that keeps him going is his conviction that, behind the factory walls at Maranello, the team is all pulling in the same direction.

Yes it has had its challenges, and certainly there are things it could have done better in 2022, but Binotto remains confident that his long-term plan to give Ferrari the foundations for regular world title challenges remains on course. 

He is clear, on one point, however: that life as Ferrari team principal through the lows of 2020/2021, to the ups and down of this season, is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Asked by Autosport in an exclusive interview if there had been some difficult moments for him over the past 18 months, he smiles: “Each single day! I think certainly it has not been an easy journey from 2019, when I was put in place as team principal, to today.  

“We have been through 2020, a very difficult one, and then 2021. But even 2022, because we are fighting for the best, sometimes there are races where we are not obtaining what is the potential of the car. So it’s not an easy one.  

“But what I may say is that I’m happy in the role. I’m happy because I know that I’ve got a great team. The team is united. It’s great to see them working together.” 

Pitwall drama

While Binotto regularly talks about the strong team around him, there are times when he experiences the weight of the world entirely on his shoulders. 

That is none more true than when the TV cameras pan to him on the pitwall during Ferrari’s most difficult moments: such as when Charles Leclerc suffered the heartbreak of his engine failures while leading in Baku and Spain. 

Binotto confesses that the moments are emotionally tough to handle, but equally there is a duty on him to remain calm. 

Asked what goes through his head, and how difficult these times are when things go wrong in such a public manner, he said: “It is very hard for two reasons.  

“The first if we are speaking about engine failure, I managed that [department]…