Binotto in, Arrivabene out with Immediate effect

The newly appointed Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto (left) with Maurizio Arrivabene (right).

After much speculation and rumors regarding the sacking of Maurizio Arrivabene, it is now officially announced that Mattia Binotto will replace the former as the Ferrari chief with immediate effect, in an official press release by Scuderia Ferrari.

"With immediate effect, Mattia Binotto will take over as Scuderia Ferrari’s Team Principal."

Reports circulated earlier on Monday in the Italian media that the current Ferrari president, John Elkann had decided to appoint Binotto in place of Arrivabene but later in the day, all the speculations were laid to the ground when finally a much anticipated announcement was made by Ferrari itself, confirming the reports.

The Ferrari statement said, "After four years of untiring commitment and dedication, Maurizio Arrivabene is leaving the team. The decision was taken together with the company’s top management after lengthy discussions related to Maurizio’s long term personal interests as well as those of the team itself.

It further continued, "Ferrari would like to thank Maurizio for his valuable contribution to the team’s increasing competitiveness over the past few years, and wish him the best for his future endeavors.

"With immediate effect, Mattia Binotto will take over as Scuderia Ferrari’s Team Principal. All technical areas will continue to report directly to Mattia."

Ferrari now looks forward to a fresh challenge to go wheel to wheel with Mercedes in 2019 with the reins of the Prancing Horse now handed over to Mattia Binotto. The Maranello based team will expect to return to its glorious days. It is worth mentioning that Arrivabene took charge of the team at time when it was struggling to match even the midfield runners. It was with Arrivabene at the helm, that Ferrari gradually progressed to the high point it was in 2018.

It has long been reckoned, that the late Ferrari president, Sergio Marchionne had expressed his desire for Binotto to take over the command of the team. Current president, John Elkann replaced Marchionne after the latter died in the final months of 2018.

A power struggle was already ongoing within the ranks of Ferrari for almost a year now. Different operational ideologies had caused a deep rift between Maurizio and Binotto. A spree of costly strategic errors both in qualifying as well as in the race across the season contributed. Arrivabene was widely criticized for his approach towards managing the team and to carry out team orders as smoothly as the rivals, Mercedes did.

On the other hand, both Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton massively capitalized on the errors of Ferrari and Vettel to secure constructors' as well as drivers' world championships in dramatic fashion. Under the leadership of Arrivabene, Ferrari started quite strongly the 2018 season and for much of it, had a superior pace than Mercedes with a car to beat. But the Italian squad fell behind the Silver Arrows in mid-season development after the summer break. Sebastian Vettel made error after an error to further put the title challenge into jeopardy.

Mattia Binotto first joined the Italian marque in 1993 and then kept rising through the ranks to be appointed the Chief Operating Officer of the power unit. He was later elevated to the rank of Chief Technical Officer once the team parted ways with James Allison who departed for Mercedes.

Ferrari's massive engine gains are widely attributed to the leadership and supervision of Mattia Binotto, and with both the former president (Sergio Marchionne) as well as the current president, John Elkann on his side; a change of leadership was all but inevitable.

The official announcement can be viewed on Ferrari's website. Click here