Who is Mattia Binotto? Everything you need to know about Sauber and Audi’s F1 chief technical officer

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Audi has brought Mattia Binotto back to Formula 1 as the new head of Sauber and its works F1 team project ahead of 2026, so here is everything to know about the Italian.

Binotto took over the Hinwil, Switzerland outfit in July 2024 after Audi felt fit to fire Andreas Seidl from his job as CEO of Sauber. Audi also fired the advisor to its board, Oliver Hoffmann, after growing disgruntled at the lack of progress at Sauber ahead of its full takeover in 2026.

Seidl spent 19 months in charge of Sauber with the task of preparing the Formula 1 team to become Audi’s works entry. Now, Binotto gets to turn Sauber into a team in his vision as the chief operating and chief technical officer of the team plus Audi’s 2026 factory team project.

Why did Sauber and Audi chief Mattia Binotto leave Ferrari?

Becoming the new head honcho in Hinwil marked a return to Formula 1 for Binotto after the Italian resigned from his position as the team principal of Ferrari in November 2022. He had worked for the Scuderia since 1995, having risen up their engine and technical departments.

Binotto stepped down after three years in charge, having taken over at Maranello in January 2019. Ferrari president John Elkann opted to promote Binotto from his job as the Scuderia’s technical director to replace Maurizio Arrivabene, who failed to uphold their 2018 title bids.

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Elkann chose Binotto as many credited Ferrari’s progress with their power unit after 2015 to his work as the chief operating officer of their engine division. He also had a big say in their progress from an aerodynamics point of view, and was attracting interest from other outfits.

But Binotto left Ferrari after more than two decades having failed to maintain their title bid in 2022. Charles Leclerc led the drivers’ standings by 34 points after winning two of the first three races. Yet Max Verstappen won the title with a 146-point margin to Leclerc in second.

Ferrari further failed to win any of the final 11 races of the 2022 season as Red Bull took the constructors’ title by 205 points. So, Binotto resigned and left his position as team principal of Ferrari, who turned to Frederic Vasseur – the CEO of Sauber at the time – to replace him.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer has taken a look into everything you need to know about Binotto, including what the new Sauber plus Audi chief’s life outside of Formula 1 looks like.

What is Mattia Binotto’s age? When was he born?

Mattia Binotto was born on November 3 in 1969, making the Sauber and Audi chief 55 years old at the time of writing. He has worked in the world of F1 since Binotto was aged only 26.

Where was Mattia Binotto born? What is his nationality?

While Binotto has chosen Italian as his primary nationality, the engineer was actually born in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland. Thus, Binotto holds dual nationality and he also studied a mechanical engineering degree at the Lausanne Polytechnic, which he graduated in 1994.

Binotto only started to specialise in cars and engines when he later switched to a university in Modena to study a Masters in motor vehicle engineering. But the course led straight into a job at Ferrari upon graduating in 1995 and laid the foundations for his career in Formula 1.

How tall is Mattia Binotto? What is his height in feet?

Mattia Binotto is believed to measure 1.88-1.90 metres, for a height of 6 ft 2 to 6 ft 3 in feet.

Mattia Binotto’s net worth

While no reputable publication currently reports an up-to-date valuation of Mattia Binotto’s net worth, Sportskeeda noted in November 2022 that his net worth was $5-6m (£4-4.5m).

Is Mattia Binotto married?

Mattia Binotto is married to his long-term partner, Sabina Binotto. He and his wife have also had two children together with their son, Marco Binotto, and their daughter, Chiara Binotto. The Binotto family tries to enjoy a private life outside the headlines of the Formula 1 world.

Mattia Binotto and Guenther Steiner are close friends

Mattia Binotto is a long-term close friend of Formula 1 cult hero and Drive to Survive legend, Guenther Steiner. The pair enjoy a fantastic relationship, and Steiner even named Binotto as the person in the Formula 1 paddock whom he would happily live on a deserted island with.

“In the old days, it would be Mattia because we could have been drinking a lot of wine,” he told The Athletic in December 2023. “But he’s not around anymore. [At] the moment, he’s around. He’s not allowed to follow along, sorry. Don’t take it in the wrong context.”

READ MORE: Guenther Steiner’s life outside of F1 from net worth to nationality

Netflix also filmed a segment for season six of Drive to Survive in which Binotto and Steiner toured the former’s winery. The segment, which aired in episode four, saw Binotto suggest to Steiner that ‘maybe it’s time to do something different’ as wine is ‘all about slowing down’.

Mattia Binotto owns a winery with a vineyard in Romagna

After leaving his position at Ferrari in 2022, Binotto took some time away from the glitz and glamour of Formula 1 to open a winery with a vineyard in Romagna. It represented a return home for the Italian, who also named the winery’s first releases to reflect his time at Ferrari.

His vineyard’s 2022 harvest led to the SF90, named after the supercar Ferrari released back in 2020. Binotto also draws on his vast experiences from working in Formula 1 for over two decades to make the wins at his vineyard with methods that are not always standard in Italy.

Binotto has marginally broken away from the customary wine world in Italy by establishing set objectives, seeking consistency and chasing coherence to reach his objectives. He even reinforces the idea that research and development is based on the processes fixed in place.