Sauber’s 2024 Formula 1 season was decidedly poor, and if not for Mattia Binotto’s arrival, the Swiss team would have ended a season, for only the second time in its F1 history, with zero points.
Mattia Binotto joined Sauber as Technical Director and Audi Project Lead in August, but the situation he encountered within the team left him shocked. He shared his experience in an exclusive interview with motorsport.com.
“When I arrived, there were not only no points, but also no plans or developments, and that worried me the most,” said the former Ferrari Team Principal. “Everything was focused solely on 2026, but for me, this was somehow problematic because I think a team must always fight on the track.”
“It is only by fighting and competing on the track that you can understand how good you are and whether you are heading in the right direction. You need to assess performance, identify the team’s weaknesses and strengths, and address them. When I arrived in August, the team was practically frozen.”
Mattia Binotto managed to shift gears at Sauber, making the team somewhat competitive in the final races of the F1 season. Thanks to this, Guanyu Zhou finished eighth in the Qatar GP. However, the engineer warned: “Finishing last with zero points or last with four points doesn’t change much. The important thing for us was to ensure we defined the right development direction for the next season and to be prepared over the winter. Today, I see a team more confident in what is needed for the next season.”
Leave a Reply