Vettel must ‘regain his head’ in 2019 – Tavoni

Fri, 18 January 2019, 05:35

Jan.18 (GMM) A great name from Ferrari’s past, Romolo Tavoni, is expecting that Mattia Binotto will get assistance as he becomes team boss in 2019.

As it stands following the ousting of Maurizio Arrivabene, Binotto has been tasked with replacing him as team boss and continuing to be technical director.

93-year-old Tavoni, a Ferrari team manager from the Enzo Ferrari days in the late 50s and early 60s, told Italy’s Autosprint that there were obvious “internal frictions” between Binotto and Arrivabene in 2018.

When asked about Binotto, Tavoni said: “He is a very high level engineer. However, his new role involves maintaining relationships with the other teams, dealing with politics and relating to Liberty Media.

“Overall it will be a very complex and very burdensome task, so I think that he will be helped by someone and that this appointment will be very important for the success of his term,” he added.

It is expected that Laurent Mekies will step up to some of Binotto’s responsibilities, while Stefano Domenicali has been linked with a return to Ferrari.

“I sincerely believe that the departure of Arrivabene is just the first shock,” Tavoni said.

“Let’s not forget that Vettel did a bad championship in 2018. I believe the immediate future of Ferrari rests on the situation with Vettel.

“We saw some unacceptable mistakes, and now we just have to see what will happen,” he added.

“In other words, Ferrari has a new boss but it is also necessary that Vettel, the spearhead on the track, regains his head.”

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