Charles Leclerc gives Ferrari green light to Binotto replacement

F1: Leclerc says Ferrari career has 'exceeded expectations'

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Charles Leclerc has given his seal of approval for Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur to replace Mattia Binotto, who was axed after a disappointing season where Ferrari were unable to challenge Red Bull for the world title.

Leclerc and Binotto had a falling out at the British Grand Prix with the team principal caught giving his driver a stern telling-off. Reports in Italy suggest their relationship was never the same thereafter.

Ferrari had a strong car and were expected to put up a fierce title challenge but a number of strategic calls cost them dearly. They are now looking for a new leader with Vasseur the favourite to step into the vacant position.

“Ferrari is a very different team to any other team. I can only comment on my experience with Fred which obviously has been good,” Leclerc said of Vasseur.

“I’ve been working with Fred already from the junior categories where he has believed in me and we’ve always had a good relationship. But apart from that, obviously this shouldn’t influence any of the other decisions.

“He has always been very straightforward, very honest and this is something that I liked about Fred. Whether it will be him or not, I don’t know, and we’ll see hopefully in the next few months.”

Vasseur started his career in the Formula series by forming his own team, ASM. He worked with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean as they were coming through the ranks.

His first big job came in 1026 when he was appointed team principal of Renault’s F1 team. He then went to Sauber before landing his current role with Alfa Romeo in 2019.

Vasseur has previously spoken about how easy he found working with Leclerc in the junior series.

“It’s important to have a good personal relationship, full trust, and a good understanding of the other,” Vasseur said.

“I saw it with Charles in the past: when you work together in the junior series, you know the guy for a long, long time. You don’t need to speak too much to understand what he is expecting.

“The relationship that you can build in the junior series is completely different to the relationship in F1. We are much more in contact.”

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