The Ferrari Formula One team have replaced their team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, with Mattia Binotto, their chief technical officer. The team had earlier denied there was any change of leadership expected but after failing to mount a season-long challenge to Mercedes in 2018 Arrivabene has been dispensed with after four years in charge – and only two months before the new F1 season begins.

Arrivabene has most recently overseen two years when the Scuderia were found wanting against Mercedes. Last year was a particular disappointment: despite having the quicker car for considerable periods, a series of driver errors by Sebastian Vettel were compounded by team mistakes that saw their challenge falter and Lewis Hamilton taking the title with two races remaining.

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“After four years of untiring commitment and dedication Maurizio Arrivabene is leaving the team,” Ferrari said in a statement. “The decision was taken together with the company’s top management after lengthy discussions related to Maurizio’s long-term personal interests as well as those of the team itself. Ferrari would like to thank Maurizio for his valuable contribution to the team’s increasing competitiveness over the past few years and wish him the best for his future endeavours. With immediate effect Mattia Binotto will take over as Scuderia Ferrari’s team principal.”

Arrivabene, who is 61, joined Ferrari in 2014 having previously been vice-president at the tobacco company Philip Morris, a long-term sponsor of the team. Vettel was responsible for some of their failings in 2018 but the team notably let him down operationally, failing to institute clear orders on occasion and making the wrong tyre choice in qualifying in Japan, an error for which Arrivabene turned on his team.

Binotto is understood to have been favoured by the former Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne and has extensive pedigree. He joined Ferrari as test race engineer in 1995 and has since been race engine engineer, race engineer and head of engines before being made chief technical officer in 2016, a role in which he has been credited with returning Ferrari to the front of the grid. He will take charge of Vettel and Ferrari’s new driver, Charles Leclerc.