Ferrari Team Principal Binotto Leaving after Troubled Season

Formula One F1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - November 19, 2022 Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - November 19, 2022 Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. (Reuters)
TT

Ferrari Team Principal Binotto Leaving after Troubled Season

Formula One F1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - November 19, 2022 Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - November 19, 2022 Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. (Reuters)

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is leaving the team at the end of next month after four years in which they often struggled to keep up with Formula One's leaders.

Binotto has been with Ferrari for 28 years and took over the team principal role in 2019.

The team was winless in 2020 and 2021, but started 2022 promisingly as Charles Leclerc won two of the opening three races, only for his title challenge to fizzle out as Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the championship with ease.

Ferrari came under criticism for blunders in its pit and tire strategies during Binotto's time in charge. A botched pit stop at the Dutch Grand Prix in September saw only three tires initially fitted to Carlos Sainz Jr.'s car and was seen as a symbol of Ferrari's difficulties.

“With the regret that this entails, I have decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari,” Binotto said in a statement, adding he felt “serenity” at having done his best.

Ferrari did not immediately name a successor but said its choice “is expected to be finalized in the new year.”



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
TT

Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”