Last Updated on November 11 2025, 2:00 pm
Ferrari are once again in a mess. The historic Italian Formula One team these days appears never far from a crisis. Questions were raised in the Italian media over the leadership of Fred Vasseur, only for Ferrari to answer within days by awarding him a new contract.
The signing of Lewis Hamilton was heralded in Maranello by some as the sign the team may be entering another Michael Schumacher era, where through his experience he wold lead the team back to winning ways.
Yet Schumacher was a much younger driver when he joined the Scuderia and it was a time when Jean Todt was leading a long term project of revolution, which meant Schumacher only found championship success in his fifth season with the team.
Hamilton’s highs and lows
Hamilton presents as somewhat of a bi-polar personality. His highs are monumental, but then so are his lows. Having missed out on a top ten shootout again in Hungary while his team mate claimed pole, a dejected Lewis Hamilton stated: “It’s just me every time.”
“I’m useless, absolutely useless. Team has no problem, you’ve seen the car’s on pole. They probably need to change driver,” Lewis said live on air.
Whether intentionally or not, Hamilton has channeled the spirit of Schumacher as he revealed on a number of occasions he has assembled dossiers to present to the engineers at Ferrari. These are presumably to assist them in overcoming the inherent problems in the SF-25, although one ex-Ferrari driver Arturo Merzario, claimed “90 percent of engineers didn’t want Hamilton” to join the team.
Lewis mostly critical of himself
On the whole, Lewis has been hyper critical of himself this season, reserving criticism for Ferrari on occasions few and far between. One exception was when asked about an incident at the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton revealed the team had placed a gagging order on him and his team mate.
“Unfortunately the team don’t really want us to talk about it but we both had issues that were hindering [us]. I didn’t know if we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst feeling the car ever had. And it truly was,” said Hamilton.
By way of contrast Charles Leclerc has been more outspoken about the poor performance of the team and on the media before the Sao Paulo Grand Prix he was categoric when asked whether Ferrari in second place behind McLaren was an acceptable state of affairs for a team of this calibre.
“It’s not good enough, no,” said the eight-time grand prix winner. “I think when you drive for such a team, the only thing that is good enough is to win.” He then tipped his hat to the incredible work done by McLaren this year, but concluded, ”but I think, as Ferrari, when you work for such an incredible brand, it’s not good enough and you’ve got to target winning.”
Red Bul responds to McLaren accusations
Ferrari chairman attacks his drivers
Ferrari chairman John Elkann issued a withering attack on the Ferrari drivers at an Olympics sponsorship event in Rome on Monday, claiming the team’s mechanics and engineers were performing well, but “if we look at the rest, it is not up to scratch”.
He added: “And we definitely have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less because we still have important races ahead of us and getting second place is not impossible. In Bahrain, we won the World Endurance Championship title. When Ferrari is united, we get results.” This is Elkann’s third call for unity over the past several months, confirmation that all is not well in Maranello.
Yet this is the first time the reprimand is directed towards the team’s drivers and reading between the lines it could be Leclerc rather than Hamilton who was the focus of his comments.
Charles Leclerc is believed to be contracted to the team through the 2028 season, whilst Hamilton is control of his destiny at Ferrari until the end of 2027. Of course no contract gives a driver the security he will be driving for an F1 team, as Sergio perez proved at the end of 2024.
Ferrari monitoring driver replacements
It would be big money to pay off either Hamilton or Leclerc early, yet reports have persisted the Monegasque driver may have been casting his eyes around an F1 future elsewhere. Further, a report from Formula Uno Analisi Tecnica reveals Ferrari have been looking at replacements for one or both of their drivers, with Oliver Bearman their former academy pilot in pole position.
Also, the Italian team have been more than impressed with Kimi Antonelli, who was described as the ‘most promising Italian driver for 25 years.’ One other surprise name on the roster is Carlos Sainz who is said to be ready to “rush back to Ferrari” were the olporuntiny arise.
No doubt when the Spaniard signed his long term deal with Williams last year, there wold be an exit clause to facilitate this should the occasion arise. Ferrari are said to have “considered” a return for Sainz, although his exit wasn’t best handled when they announced the impending arrival of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton at war with FIA stewards
Williams ahead of Ferrari?
Ferrari suffered their second Grand Prix of the year where both cars failed to finish in Brazil and in China whilst both finished in the points, Hamilton and Leclerc were excluded on technical grounds.
The team have battled with ride height issues all year long, with the drivers regularly told to “lift and coast” to prevent the nose diving under braking and creating excessive wear on the critical underfloor plank. The report also suggests Hamilton’s feedback isn’t as detailed as that of Carlos Sainz, another tick in the box the Spaniard.
Yet given the misery in Maranello, the divisions and lack of on track performance, it may be questionable come next year’s huge technical regulation changes that Williams are better placed than the iconic Italian F1 team.
Webber role in Piastri management questioned
Mark Webber was a decent Formula One driver who competed in his twilight years for Red Bull Racing with Sebastian Vettel as his team mate. Yet in a car which won four consecutive constructor and drivers’ championships he claimed just nine Grand Prix victories, whilst his team mate racked up 38 wins.
In 2010 following the Singapore Grand Prix, the Australian driver led the drivers title race by 11 points from Fernando Alonso with Vettel a further 9 points behind.
Come the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Sebastian remained in third place behind team mate Webber and Fernando Alonso who was 15 points ahead of the German. The race was a frustrating affair for the Spaniard, who qualified third, but after a chaotic start found himself stuck behind the Renault of Vitaly Petrov down in eight place, while Vettel was leading….. 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.
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