Mattia Binotto is returning to Method 1.
The previous Ferrari Crew Principal has taken a task with Sauber, forward of the crew turning into the Audi works challenge within the 2026 season. In a assertion issued by Audi, it was introduced that Binotto is taking over the function of “Chief Working and Chief Technical Officer within the management crew of Sauber Motorsport AG, with accountability and accountability for the operative administration and sporting success of the racing crew. Mattia Binotto will report back to the Board of Administrators of Sauber Motorsport AG.”
It was additionally introduced that Oliver Hoffmann and Andreas Seidl — who reportedly had been locked in a “energy battle” in latest weeks over the path of the Audi challenge — could be leaving the group.
“I’m delighted that we have now been in a position to recruit Mattia Binotto for our bold Method 1 challenge,“ says Gernot Döllner, CEO of AUDI AG. “Along with his in depth expertise of greater than 25 years in Method 1, he’ll undoubtedly be capable to make a decisive contribution for Audi.“
“Our intention is to deliver all the Method 1 challenge as much as F1 velocity by the use of clear administration constructions, outlined obligations, decreased interfaces, and environment friendly decision-making processes. For this objective, the crew should be capable to act independently and shortly,” says Gernot Döllner, who will take the place of chairman of the Board of Administrators of Sauber Motorsport AG sooner or later.
Binotto’s most up-to-date season in F1 was the 2022 marketing campaign, the place he served as Ferrari Crew Principal. His tenure with the Scuderia was met with blended outcomes, and he was eliminated following the 2022 marketing campaign.
The group introduced earlier this spring that Nico Hülkenberg could be transferring to Sauber for the 2025 season, forward of the Audi takeover in 2026. Hülkenberg has a earlier relationship with Seidl and on the Miami Grand Prix the German driver advised the media, together with SB Nation, how crucial Seidl was to recruiting him to the Audi challenge.
“So lucky,” stated Hülkenberg in Miami. “It got here there, , via [Seidl]. And he’s a really direct and simple man with me.
“I keep in mind 2020, most likely earlier than the season began, and I used to be unsure what I needed to do. However I keep in mind phoning him up and, he was at McLaren clearly on the time, And I used to be wanting [for a spot so I asked him] ‘[I]s there perhaps an opportunity for me?’
“And he was straight. ‘No, don’t even get your hopes up. It’s not going to occur.
“And this time round, years later, it was very completely different, ? And he was very eager to assist me.”
Nonetheless now it’s Binotto that Hülkenberg shall be working with subsequent 12 months.
