The Belgian Grand Prix weekend of 2023 is likely to be remembered mostly for what happened off the track during the event. At Alpine, Otmar Szafnauer, Alan Permane and Pat Fry were all confirmed to have left the Enstone-based team.
One name that has been consistently appearing in regards to who might take the team principal role at Alpine is Mattia Binotto.
According to respected journalists in the paddock, Binotto is favourite to be the next person to take on one of F1’s most difficult positions at present.
Martin Brundle said on Friday that he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it happens.
“I have heard the same rumour. This is a funny old place, as you know. You can start a rumour just for fun and see how quickly it comes back to you as fact. But it’s not out of the question.
“Binotto has got a lot of experience, obviously the Ferrari system, and he knows about running a Formula One team. Obviously it didn’t work out for him at Ferrari, otherwise he would still be there.
“But I wouldn’t be surprised if that was announced.”
Is Binotto the right fit for Alpine?
The Italian became team principal at Scuderia Ferrari in January 2019. He would depart the role at the end of last year following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
During his near 4-year reign in that position, Binotto faced a lot of scrutiny for contentious decisions.
In 2020, Ferrari agreed a secret deal with the FIA after suspicions that they were running engines in an illegal way during the 2019 season.
During the pandemic when sport worldwide was stopped for a few months in 2020, it was decided that Carlos Sainz would replace Sebastian Vettel at the Scuderia from 2021 onwards.
However, it would be 2022 that ultimately saw the downfall of Binotto. In the first part of the campaign, Ferrari had a rapid car. Unfortunately for lead driver Charles Leclerc, he didn’t get the support required when he was clearly much faster and more comfortable in the F1-75 compared to Carlos Sainz.
Shocking strategy calls for the Monegasque driver at Monaco, Silverstone and Budapest left the F1 world baffled. Binotto’s refusal to accept reality and the mistakes that were made was equally strange.
If you look at the overall picture of his time at Ferrari as team boss, Binotto failed in that role.
With Alpine’s hiring and firing approach, things could get properly interesting if Binotto ultimately joins them and fails to bring success within a short timeframe.
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari
