Toto Wolff and Mattia Binotto both skip the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. The team bosses of Mercedes and Ferrari, respectively, both share one specific reason for staying at home. The Formula 1 calendar would have become too full for the two.
Wolff previously announced that he will not be present at every Grand Prix of the 2022 season. The overcrowded calendar was given as the reason when the Austrian was asked about it by the news agency AP. His duties are taken over by other members of Mercedes, for example chief strategist James Vowles and chief engineer Andrew Shovlin. Wolff is there digitally. That way he has contact with everyone on Suzuka.
Binotto shares his colleague Wolff’s reason for skipping the weekend in Japan. The Italian also thinks the calendar, which consists of 22 games and will get two more next season, has become too full. Binotto will be in Italy this weekend to assist his team. Logically, his duties will be taken over by race director Laurent Mekies and sporting and strategic director Iñaki Rueda.
Wolff and Binotto not the only ones absent from Japan GP
The team bosses are not the only people who are not present at a Grand Prix every weekend. The pair also envisage having several employees alternate in order to reduce the workload. It is not known who these are, but it can be assumed that these are people who, for example, work in the pit box.
Yet there is also the suspicion that Wolff and Binotto will drop the race in Japan because of the soap around the budget ceiling. The pair are said to lobby the FIA for high penalties in the event of violations. Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin, whose team bosses are at Suzuka, are accused of exceeding the budget cap in the past year.
Terrence Riepma (Twitter: @TerrenceRiepma | e-mail: [email protected])
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