F1: Toto Wolff says Binotto will not be moving to the Mercedes team

Toto Wolff has ruled out the possibility of outgoing Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto joining Mercedes in the future.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Mercedes team principal Wolff said it was “no secret” that he and Binotto “had our moments” in recent years, but felt they had been “consolidated” through 2022.

“We were in a much better place,” said Wolff. “But it was always clear that he was under tremendous pressure. Being a team principal at Ferrari, you better have a good contract for your exit.

“Now, probably the unavoidable happened, but he held onto it longer than I thought.”

Asked if Binotto’s experience and pedigree would ever make him of interest to work at Mercedes, potentially overseeing its High Performance Powertrains arm, Wolff ruled out the possibility.

“No, I think there was too much porcelain broken between us the last two years that this would be possible,” said Wolff.

“With the other teams, I can’t say. But certainly Mattia understands Formula 1 inside out, and yeah, maybe he finds a role in another team.”

On the rumor of Frederic Vasseur replacing Binotto at Ferrari:

“You need to understand motor racing, maybe more than just Formula 1,” Wolff said.

“But it’s such a niche where the sport, the regulations, the governing body, the commercial rights holder, the competitors, all of us are basically locked in in this paddock cage. You need to be politically astute.

“It’s a very niche, specialist environment. The more you know about the sport, the better it is. But you don’t want to be a one-trick pony either.

“You can be a good racing manager, and not understand about anything that’s going on commercially or outside in the world.”