Red Bull's Christian Horner sympathizes with his Ferrari counterpart Mattia Binotto: It must be very difficult for him to leave that team

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has sympathies for Ferrari's former team principal Mattia Binotto after the Italian lost his job in Maranello. Binotto had been part of the team for more than two decades and had helped bring the team back to the front after a few years in the midfield.

At the start of this past season, Ferrari was leading both championships before Red Bull and Max Verstappen took over. The reason behind Ferrari falling away was a lack of operational acumen within the team.

Speaking about Binotto, Horner had his sympathies for the Italian as he admitted that Ferrari had seen improvement under Binotto's leadership. At the FIA Gala Awards in Italy, when asked by Motorsport.com, he said:

“I think, in all fairness to Mattia, he did a very good job in producing a very competitive car and engine for Ferrari, certainly this year. Obviously, they had their moments operationally. He committed a long period of his career and life to Ferrari, and I'm sure it must be very difficult for him to leave that team after all of that time."

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Imola was the turning point for Red Bull

Speaking to the media about what he felt turned things around for the team, the Red Bull boss felt that the race in Imola was the one where the tides turned. He said:

“I think they [Ferrari] had a faster car than us in the early part of the season. But we were able to stay in touch and that was very, very important. Our championship was 21 races, because we missed the first one by having a double DNF. But we had to stick with them. And, for me, one of the crucial weekends was Imola with the sprint race, and then the victory."

He added:

"To win both those races, to achieve the 1-2 finish, and to beat Ferrari on their home ground was, I think, psychologically a big thing for us as a team, potentially for them as well. I think then, as we developed the car, and we improved the car, and we lost a little bit of weight, then the speed came.”

In the end, Red Bull and Max Verstappen comfortably cruised to the title against Ferrari and Charles Leclerc.