Ferrari president John Elkann "doesn’t like racing".
That is the claim of highly-respected Italian F1 insider Leo Turrini, who mused on his Quotidiano blog about Ferrari’s performance crash of 2020.
"The current situation is a consequence of the mistakes that Ferrari has made over the past ten years," he insisted. "And Binotto certainly needs to do something about it.
"But making Binotto the scapegoat is clearly not right."
Turrini also said Elkann, who in December took over as CEO when Louis Camilleri suddenly retired, can still be "a good president" despite his lack of enthusiasm for F1.
"John Elkann doesn’t like racing and he has a right to it," he said. "He can still be a good president if he chooses the right assistants to make up for his lack of passion for racing."
Turrini also poured cold water on suggestions Ferrari could reunite with its old boss, Jean Todt, after the 74-year-old soon relinquishes his role as FIA president.
"I would be very surprised," he said.
"On the other hand, never say never. It’s just that he worked for Ferrari for 15 years, won everything that could be won, became a very rich man and a famous person. And he is not getting younger.
"Why would he return to Italy?" Turrini wondered.