Aston Martin linked with bold new team boss move after key figure ‘spotted’ in hospitality

Lawrence Stroll and the Aston Martin logo

Could Mattia Binotto be on his way to Aston Martin? The former Ferrari figure has reportedly been seen chatting with team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Binotto, a Ferrari stalwart who first joined back in 1995, remained with the team until the end of 2022, at which point he departed his team principal role and the Scuderia altogether. But, could a fresh Formula 1 challenge now be on the horizon?

Mattia Binotto apparently seen talking to Aston Martin owner

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

As per Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, Binotto was back in the F1 paddock at Imola, Ferrari’s home race, where he reportedly headed for Aston Martin hospitality for a conversation with their ambitious owner Stroll, who they claim has a ‘concrete interest’ in making Binotto their team principal.

They add that Binotto’s gardening leave period after exiting Ferrari – a common requirement for senior team personnel – expired six months ago, which would leave him free to take up any opportunity presented by Aston Martin.

The team, currently led by Mike Krack as principal, introduced a suite of upgrades for the Aston Martin AMR24 at Imola, which on the face of it, failed to yield a big step forward, the team scoring just two points courtesy of Lance Stroll.

However, Krack argued a step forward was achieved and so batted away any suggestions that Aston Martin may need to revert to the previous spec AMR24.

“The upgrades are certainly a step forward,” Krack insisted to media including PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher.

“There’s no need to roll them off.”

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The upcoming Monaco Grand Prix will be an important test of Aston Martin’s progress, considering they could have won there last year with Fernando Alonso under different circumstances.

However, Krack was keen to talk up the fine margins of the current F1 grid, which can leave you right at the back or near the front.

Asked if he is still confident in Aston Martin’s low-speed performance for Monaco, Krack replied: “Monaco last year was last year, now Monaco this year is this year. So we will go there and see.

“We’ll do our homework. We have a lot to work on, we have a lot to understand and we will see how it turns out.

“We certainly see this year the margins are becoming smaller. And as soon as you are on the wrong end of these small margins, you can be out.

“I think Lance said on Friday night, tomorrow, you can be out in Q1 and you can be either 18th or you can be fifth. It’s just so close that if you’re at the right end of it with the track improvement, with the traffic, you can have an amazing starting position, but you can also be completely at the back.”

Aston Martin sit P5 in the Constructors’ Championship, 35 points behind Mercedes a position ahead.

PlanetF1.com has approached Aston Martin over the Binotto speculation and is awaiting a response.

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