Photo: Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty
Instantly recognizable thanks to his black circular eyeglasses and brown bushy hair, Mattia Binotto is no stranger to the spotlight.
The 52-year-old is the team principal of one of the most influential crews in all of Formula 1 — Scuderia Ferrari. Throughout its history, the club has won the F1 Constructors' Championship 16 times, with Scuderia Ferrari drivers earning the Drivers' Championship on 15 occasions.
To put it in terms American fans may better understand, Scuderia Ferrari can be likened to the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s and the early 2000s — when the team is good, they absolutely dominate.
And theMagic Johnson-like star of the team wasMichael Schumacher, who signed with Scuderia Ferrari in 1996, a year after Binotto joined the engine department. Four years later, behind Schumacher’s brilliance, Scuderia Ferrari earned the first of five straight Constructors' and Drivers' championships.
But a Scuderia Ferrari driver (Kimi Räikkönen) last won the Drivers' Championship in 2007, which is the same year the team earned their second to last Constructors' championship, the most recent being in 2008. With Scuderia Ferrari now more than a decade from either a Constructors' or Drivers' title, Binotto has been tasked with steering the team back to its former glory.
Dan Istitene/Formula 1 via Getty
Both Charles and Carlos have said what motivates them to race is the thrill of competition, what motivates you, Mattia?
Binotto: I suppose it’s the passion, but not only. Myself, I was born in Switzerland. I’m Italian but born in Switzerland. When you’re Italian in a foreign country, whatever is linked to your home country, it’s important for you. It’s the Italian football team. It’s Ferrari. Because for an Italian, Ferrariisthe team.
There’s a lot of pride.
Binotto: A lot of pride. Since I was born, for me, Ferrari was pride. And today, I think, somehow being here and having the opportunity to contribute to the future of Ferrari, is something that is an honor.
I’ve heard the role of “team principal” described as being like the conductor of an orchestra. Do you see it that way?
Binotto: My role is to try to give to my collaborators, my colleagues, the right support, make sure they can deliver their best, so I can invest in driving the project itself while driving the persons.
That’s why I think a conductor of an orchestra is the right parallel. I’m not the one that will play the song. I’m not the one that will play every single instrument. I will be the one that will give the opportunities or the support to the single players to deliver their best. Not the best only as an individual, but as a team.
Did you always see yourself as a leader?
Binotto: I think yes. Since I was very young, when I was playing football, I was the captain of the team. So that was the role I always fit. So I don’t think I was a good football player, and I don’t think I’m a good engineer. But I think I can try to support the team from the leadership point of view.
Michael Schumacher.Mark Thompson/Getty
You’ve been with Scuderia Ferrari since 1995, just before Schumacher helped the team win five Constructors' Championships. What do you think is the key to being a winning Formula 1 team? What are the ingredients?
Binotto: To be a winning team or a top team, first, you need the right resources, no doubt. But that’s not sufficient. I think you need the right mentality. A mentality is a winning mentality. I think in order of being capable of winning, you need to somehow deal with the pressure, deal with the short-term urgent necessities, deal with what’s the medium, long-term priorities.
It’s really a matter of mentality, of obsession. I think that’s the one. And then, you need … there are no silver bullets in F1. So it’s not something that you can change in one day. That’s why I think passion is important and stability, in that respect, is important because you build it through the seasons, you build it through time, and it’s not something that you can achieve in a very short time.
Was there anything you learned during Schumacher’s time with the team that you have tried to instill into the current crew’s DNA?
Binotto: Yeah, really a lot. When I’m facing various situations, I always try to think how they would have been solved in the past, taking inspiration. Even the way we are working back at Maranello [Ferrari’s home in Italy], in our meeting process, protocols, I’m certainly thinking about that time and a lot of what we did.
I think that’s what I’ve learned the most. We really went back after every single race — we have long what we call debriefing meetings, where we are discussing and arguing every single problem we have. But we are not going out of the room without a plan of action. That doesn’t mean a solution, but an action in place to do something better — that’s a continuous improvement process.
And Schumacher had that mentality?
Binotto: Schumacher was the best example of an obsession and continuous improvement approach. Because he’s looking at all the details. He was not only focusing on the most important things that happened but there was not a single detail that was left as a stone unturned.
With Charles and Carlos, what qualities make themtheFerrari drivers of today?
Binotto: First, they’re very talented guys, very talented drivers. That’s very important because you need to be fast. I think they understand the spirit of Ferrari, the “Essere Ferrari” motto. That’s one thing that is key because they know becoming a world champion is one thing, but becoming world champion with Ferrari is a different thing. They understand the spirit and the soul of Ferrari, and I think that they are good persons.
I think they are, too.
Binotto: Yeah, they are good persons. They are good kids. I think they’re humble, fresh spirit, fresh mind. They are junior compared to ourselves, which is important because as well for the young fans, I think that’s key. So I think we got the right mix between talent, skills and person.
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Charles is 24, and Carlos is 27, and I believe they’re the youngest lineup for the team since 1968. What are the advantages and disadvantages of that?
Binotto: It takes time to get back to winning, and it’s a matter of passion and stability. We decided to invest in our medium-to-longterm future. And when you are investing, you’re investing in young people. We are, generally speaking, a young team. It’s not only the drivers, even the engineers, the mechanics are pretty young.
Now, it’s a few seasons that we are all together, so we are not so young anymore. But when we started, I think we invested in employing a lot of young guys. I was quite young for a team principal when I jumped into the role. And that has been true with the first-line managers, and that has been true with the drivers. Because we are not looking only at the short term, which is great still, but looking really at our mid-to-longterm where there is a clear objective that we have, and we are with that in mind.
And I think having a young lineup is… young but still strong, talented.
And with them being young, you can still teach them that winning philosophy.
Binotto: I think it’s not only teaching. I think it’s growing altogether. I think it’s not teaching. I think that they can contribute as much as we can. And if we are back to the orchestra, these are two of the players, which are front-end players, but certainly players which are part of the orchestra.
Mattia, how does it feel when you look back on your 25-year-journey with this company, and F1?
Binotto: As far as I feel it is an honor, a lot of responsibility and honor. I think I’m one of the employees, I do not feel more important than others. I think each single person has their own role. Certainly, my role is an important role within the organization, but I’m still just one of many. And that, for me, is key.
I have had the luck, I think, to develop through my career, and today, I’m somehow the team principal. But I also see it as a good example for everybody in Ferrari — everybody can have the chance to develop themselves within the organization.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
source: people.com
