Erstwhile Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto is being linked with a potential return to Formula 1 with Aston Martin in a new technical position, according to a report.
Binotto has not been involved in F1 in a working role since resigning from Ferrari in November 2022, although he has been present in various paddocks since his exit.
The Italian had worked with the Maranello-based squad since 1995 and was in place as Michael Schumacher claimed five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004.
Binotto progressed from working and then leading the engine department to Chief Technical Officer in 2016 before replacing Maurizio Arrivabene at the helm in 2019.
However, Ferrari would sink to its worst placing since 1980 in the second season under Binotto’s guidance with a sixth place that would see it also go winless in 2021.
Although it capitalised on new technical rules to emerge with the fastest car in 2022, the marque was unable to sustain that and ended up 205 points behind Red Bull.
Binotto stood down from his role and Ferrari has since recovered from a challenging 2023 to win two of the opening eight races with Frederic Vasseur now in charge.
But according to Motorsport Total, Binotto could be in line to reignite his involvement in motor racing as he is reported to be locked in discussions with Aston Martin.
The report has published that owner Lawrence Stroll is disappointed with Aston Martin’s sluggish start to the season and has ambitions to bolster its technical ranks.
Aston Martin began the previous campaign as a consistent podium scorer but regressed as the term unravelled and ended up fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Silverstone-based has remained in that position this season and has appeared to have gone backwards in recent rounds, with two points from the past two races.
Fernando Alonso endured his second consecutive Q1 elimination in Monaco last weekend, prompting him to hold worries that Aston Martin is falling into the midfield.
“All in all difficult weekend, obviously you learn a lot from the difficulties so that’s what we try to do but tough one,” he said.
“[It’s] obviously not ideal, the current form, we seem to go back to the midfield instead of looking at the front runners.
“But these things can change quickly, we saw with many other examples how quickly things can change.
“A good upgrade on the car and you can move five or six positions, so that is what we want to do on the next one and we work hard on that direction.”
Stroll Sr harbours ambitions to transcend Aston Martin into title contenders and invested in a state-of-the-art headquarters at Silverstone, which opened last summer.
The Canadian billionaire has also recruited several high-profile engineers – including ex-Red Bull designer Dan Fallows – and could now have his sights set on Binotto.
Aston Martin is rumoured to have proposed to Binotto that he comes in as Chief Technical Officer to oversee the work that occurs in the team’s technical department.
Fallows would continue to be responsible for designing the cars, while Binotto’s responsibilities would comprise “concentrating on setting up the technical structures”.
Meanwhile, the ex-Ferrari boss would co-operate on the “big picture” with Aston Martin Performance Technologies Martin Whitmarsh, who arrived at the team in 2021.
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