Mattia Binotto 'relaxed' about his future as Ferrari team chief despite torrid 2022

Ferrari team chief Mattia Binotto said on Saturday that he felt relaxed about his future despite reports in Italian news media that he is set to be replaced.

The easy-going Italian told reporters at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that the speculation was unfounded, but admitted he was not in control of his fate.

"Obviously when this speculation came out, I had a chat with my chairman, John Elkann," said Binotto.

"We discussed openly what was the best way to move forward. We decided to release a statement was maybe the best way to close any speculation. Clearly there is speculation, but totally with no foundation."

'It's about Ferrari'

He was speaking before qualifying for Sunday's race in which Charles Leclerc was third and Carlos Sainz fourth, to secure the second row of the grid behind the title-winning Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

"It's about Ferrari," he said. "And more importantly, we must not be distracted. Obviously, it's not down to me to decide, but I'm pretty relaxed.

"The reason why I'm relaxed is that I'm always having open, frank and constructive discussions with my bosses, with my chairman, not only for the short-term but the medium and the long-term.

"More than that, I think if I look back on the season, yes we had a few up and downs - and today we have not the fastest car on-track - but I think we achieved our main objective which was to be back and to be competitive and that we know the 2022 cars."

Our last Quali day of 2022 in ??#essereFerrari ?? #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/g7PufbH0sM

Focused on 2023

He said the team had progressed since he took control in 2019 and stressed that the 'Scuderia' was fully focused on the future.

"The team back at the factory is fully focused on the 2023