MUSINGS FROM THE TJ13 NOTEBOOK – The tale of two Ferraris as Le Mans Gods and Formula 1 Flops – It was the best of times; it was the blurriest of TV camera pans trying to locate a Ferrari at the front of a Formula 1 grid. In a bizarre twist of sporting schizophrenia, the legendary Prancing Horse has developed a curious case of split personality: blitzing endurance racing with mechanical poetry, yet simultaneously fumbling through Formula 1 weekends like a drunk waiter at a wedding buffet.
On one side of the garage door is Antonello Coletta, Ferrari’s endurance racing messiah. His Hypercar team has delivered a hat-trick of Le Mans victories and is now dominating the WEC. On the other side is Frédéric Vasseur, who clings to his role as Formula 1 team principal like a man hanging from a window ledge by his fingernails, while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sound increasingly disappointed and disillusioned.
Le Mans: Ferrari actually wins things here
For those unfamiliar with the concept of ‘Ferrari success’, look no further than the World Endurance Championship. Ferrari’s Hypercar team has been so dominant that they are probably on Porsche’s block list and have Peugeot engineers crying into their croissants.
Under Coletta’s leadership, the 499P prototype has turned Le Mans into a Ferrari-sponsored parade, with rivals like BMW, Cadillac, and Aston Martin reduced to paddock wallflowers. Rivals such as BMW, Cadillac and Aston Martin have been reduced to paddock wallflowers, watching Coletta’s squadron transform historic circuits into extended advertisements for the glory of Maranello.
If the Formula 1 team at Ferrari wants to experience winning again, they should consider shadowing the Hypercar team — assuming the endurance division allows visitors from the land of blown strategies and anonymous race finishes.
F1: A long, hot desert with no water in sight
Meanwhile, in Formula 1, Ferrari remains trapped in a soap opera spanning over a decade titled ‘No Title and Counting’.
The 2025 season started with promise. ‘This year will be different,’ they said — though at this point, those words might as well be tattooed on the inside of the team motorhome.
Ten races in, and Ferrari’s ‘most ambitious year yet’ has yielded zero wins and zero hope, not to mention at least a dozen passive-aggressive driver interviews. While McLaren, Mercedes and even the increasingly fractious Red Bull team have all celebrated victories, Ferrari continues to languish in the mediocrity of the mid-grid. Their performance in Montreal was so lacklustre that fans started tweeting their own team strategies mid-race — and somehow, most of them seemed better than Ferrari’s actual approach.
Hamilton and Leclerc: Two stars, one crisis hotline
The mood within the Scuderia F1 camp is now somewhere between a Shakespearean tragedy and a group therapy session. Lewis Hamilton, the most hyped signing since ‘Fernando is faster than you’, has done little more than politely question why the strategy team appears to spin a roulette wheel before each pit stop. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has reached that special level of Ferrari maturity where he no longer shouts on the radio; he just sighs audibly and shakes his head in the cockpit.
Rumours of unrest aren’t whispers anymore — they’re megaphones. The dressing room is rattling, the drivers are fuming and Frédéric Vasseur is quietly checking LinkedIn for less high-profile jobs.
Enter Coletta: the man, the myth, the potential miracle worker.
With Vasseur’s contract on the verge of expiry and confidence in him waning, all eyes turn to Antonello Coletta. Fresh from his third Le Mans win, Coletta has the quiet confidence of a man who has built a Ferrari division that delivers results. He is now being tipped as the next big thing in Formula 1. Assuming, of course, that he wants to touch the hot stove that is the current F1 team with anything more than a ten-foot pit board.
Elkann’s opinion of Coletta has never been higher. In fact, if this continues, Coletta may find himself granted a significant portion of Ferrari’s decision-making power. Or, at the very least, the keys to the increasingly directionless Formula 1 team.
Be careful what you wish for
However, if Coletta does accept — and the glittering throne of Ferrari Formula 1 is hard to turn down — he’ll be walking straight into a storm with a blindfold and no umbrella. The technical structure is not his own, the drivers are already disgruntled, the media are circling, and the regulations are set to change in 2026, potentially rendering this year’s cars obsolete.
Imagine being handed a race team in crisis, with cars designed by someone else, tyres that won’t work next year and two superstars who are increasingly questioning whether they’ve joined a super team or a satirical Netflix spin-off. That’s the job description.
Coletta may have conquered Le Mans, but this isn’t endurance racing. In Formula 1, it’s not about lasting 24 hours — it’s about surviving 24 races without losing your mind.
One Ferrari, two realities
So here we are: one Ferrari bathed in champagne and success; another soaked in excuses and failure. It’s a tale of two teams, two leaders and two completely different interpretations of what it means to wear red. If Coletta does jump into the Formula 1 fire pit, it could be the boldest career move in motorsport this decade.
However, if he chooses to remain where trophies are plentiful and the media less bloodthirsty, no one would blame him.
After all, Ferrari wins in endurance racing. In Formula 1, however, Ferrari merely survives.
Ferrari crisis deepens and Leclerc told “shut up and drive”
MORE F1 NEWS – Briatore set for Ferrari
Briatore brushes off Renault shake-up, dismisses impact on Alpine F1 as De Meo exits, meanwhile the Italian boss is touted for Ferrari role – Flavio Briatore has dismissed any suggestion that Luca de Meo’s sudden resignation as CEO of the Renault Group will disrupt the Alpine Formula 1 team. He insisted that the move would not affect the immediate future of the Enstone-based outfit.
Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Briatore, who was handpicked by de Meo in 2023 to serve as an executive advisor for Renault’s F1 operations, was quick to allay concerns over a potential leadership vacuum following de Meo’s departure in July. The flamboyant 75-year-old Italian, who is increasingly seen as Alpine’s de facto team boss following the quiet departure of team principal Oliver Oakes, declared that the project remains firmly on course.
“No impact, nothing,” he said bluntly when asked what de Meo’s resignation might mean for the Alpine team. “We continue exactly as planned.”….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
well, if Coletta turns it down and Briatore is not invited, i would take the offer if it comes. Seriously