Binotto tasked with ’difficult situation’ - Piero Ferrari

Mattia Binotto will be tasked with a "difficult and unusual situation" once the racing kicks off in 2020.

That is the view of Piero Ferrari, the son of founder Enzo Ferrari who is also the fabled Italian marque’s vice president and co-owner.

And he is not just referring to the corona crisis.

"First of all, I hope that the engines will be started in July in Austria," Ferrari told the Il Resto del Carlino newspaper.

"It will not be easy to beat Mercedes, but we will never stop trying and our fans know it."

Piero Ferrari says another challenge in 2020 will be managing Sebastian Vettel, who even before a wheel has turned in anger this season has decided to leave Maranello at the end of the year.

Vettel’s 2021 successor will be Carlos Sainz.

"I have confidence in the choices that have been made," Ferrari said. "We have a young man (Charles Leclerc) who is a symbol of hope and enthusiasm so I am optimistic.

"As for Sebastian Vettel, Mattia Binotto must be able to handle an objectively difficult and unusual situation, since we have a driver who will leave at the end of the season.

"I don’t know how my father would handle the situation, but he always said that the team counts more than any employee - even more than the best driver."

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone regularly opines that Binotto is not a great Ferrari leader, especially when it comes to handling a situation like the Vettel one.

"Michael (Schumacher)’s situation with Ferrari was a little bit different," Ecclestone told RTL.

"I once said to him ’Who runs the team?’ and he said ’I do’. That’s probably why they were so successful. The trouble with Italians is that they haven’t really got a lot of leaders.

"The person in charge of the team is basically a super engineer, he’s been with Ferrari for more than 20 years. But they haven’t got a leader. That’s my opinion anyway."