Elkann plain wrong: Ferrari results have not “improved” – the facts… John Elkann issued a withering attack on his Formula One Ferrari drivers the day after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The all powerful Ferrari Chairman claimed his drivers need to “focus more and talk less,” and that the car as “undoubtedly improved”, and the rest of the team, with the exception of the Maranello based engineers, is “not up to standard.”
Within hours both drivers had taken to social media with Lewis Hamilton pointedly observing, “I back my team, I back myself” and Leclerc somewhat playing teacher’s pet echoing the words of his big boss saying, ”it’s uphill from now and it’s clear only unity can help us”.
Sensational stuff and we will have to wait ten days or so to see the more detailed response of the race team together with that of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Yet the Italian media have been pointing the finger of accusation elsewhere this season, with team boss and senior engineers persistently coming under fire.
The much vaunted suspension upgrade in Hungary
Italian publications were baying for Freed Vasseur’s blood as the F1 Sumer break approached, questioning the silence from the upper echelons of the Ferrari group as to his future. John Elkann responded by rewarding Vasseur with a contract extension to silence the mob, although results have not improved since then – in fact they’ve deteriorated.
The contract extension announcement was made ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Just two weeks later the much vaunted SF-25 suspension upgrade was introduced at the Belgian Grand Prix. This coincided with the first of three very public calls from Elkann for unity, he expressed his views on F1TV.
“Ferrari wants to win, has won, will win, when it’s able to get everyone together. What’s important in Ferrari is not the individual, but it’s the individuals. Those individuals, when they work together, they can do incredible things,” he said in an interview with Lawrence Baretto.
The upgraded suspension was a source of conflict in Maranello, as Vasseur forced through the changes allegedly against the wishes of his drivers who preferred more effort on the aerodynamics of the car.
Fact: Ferrari results have deteriorated
It appears the silver bullet new suspension to solve the team’s persistent ride height issues this season has just not worked. Across the first 13 races, the average points scored by the Scuderia was just over 19 per weekend. Since Belgium the tally is down to just 14.25.
Prior to the suspension upgrade Charles Leclerc had claimed four podiums, since he has just three. But other than that he has made the top five on just one other occasion and Hamilton’s record is even worse. He has made the top five just once since the upgrade and failed to score on three occasions.
Since the failed upgrades, a number of senior engineers in Maranello have come under fire with Autoracer naming Loic Serra, chassis technical director, as a key culprit. Serra left Mercedes for Ferrari last year but he joined the Scuderia in early October so is not fully responsible for the 2025 chassis.
The report detailed “doubts” growing over Serra’s capabilities and that some of the other singers have “rejected” his contributions. Serra is responsible for the two suspension upgrades, the first for Austin and the second first run in Belgium.
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Given the in season upgrades have failed and the results have deteriorated as detailed above, Serra must take some responsibility for the predicament Ferrari finds itself in.
Another individual targeted by the Italian press is trackside engineer Matteo Togninalli, he has been called out for the operation errors across a number of race weekends. In Brazil despite a track temperature drop of six degrees between Q1 and Q2, Lewis Hamilton’s tyre preparation for his push laps was exactly the same.
Fans took to social media criticising the trackside team, asking why Hamilton had not been instructed to increase the pace on his preparation lap, the responsibility of Togninalli. Lewis was eliminated in Q2 complaining, “I didn’t have any rear end. The tyres weren’t working today… The car set-up felt good, it was just how we prepared the tyres.”
Togninalli is reported to have a “terrible temper” which has caused heated clashes within the Ferrari race team. He is allegedly in “internal conflict” presently with Fred Vasseur, another individual who is sowing the seeds of dissent and disharmony.
Elkann’s second call for unity
Elkann’s second call for unity came during the weekend of the US Grand Prix in Austin. Speaking at the National Italian American Foundation’s 50th anniversary bash in Washington, Elkann again addressed the mounting criticism of the Ferrari F1 team together with the pressure mounting due to Christian Horner having been persistently linked with a move to take over from Vasseur.
“I want to affirm our full confidence in Team Principal Fred Vasseur and in the work he is carrying out together with all his colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari – mechanics, engineers and drivers who are working this weekend in Austin,” La Republic reported Elkann as saying.
“I also want to reiterate the importance of teamwork from everyone to maintain high concentration on the only objective that matters – always giving our all on the track.”
Whilst there was no particular group of individuals in the cross hairs, a second call for unity in Just over two months set the alarm bells ringing – there are definitely troubles in Maranello was the conclusion.
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Leclerc did criticise Ferrari in Brazil
Now Elkann has lambasted the Ferrari drivers in his latest missive, something which appears to be founded in things said during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend. Charles Leclerc was asked on Friday whether he was satisfied that Ferrari were in second place in the constructors’ championship.
“It’s not good enough, no,” the eight-time grand prix winner said. “I think when you drive for such a team, the only thing that is good enough is to win.” The interesting part about Leclerc’s remarks were that the server present royal “we” was not used, which is part of the drivers’ natural parlance these days.
‘We were not quick enough today,’ is a well used comment, not ‘I wasn’t quick enough today’. The royal ‘we’ binds the driver and the team in either their positive or negative results. The comments from Charles felt as though he was calling out the team, rather than including himself in the “not good enough” remark.
Lewis Hamilton was his usual up-down self. He was positive coming into the weekend, but after being told to retire the car, in his post race interviews he talked of his “nightmare year” at Ferrari.
Hamilton called for “structural adjustments”
Hamilton is no stranger to calling a spade a spade, calling out Mercedes’ technical director in 2023 to take “responsibility” for not listening to him. However Lewis was not calling Ferrari a “nightmare” just his experience which he has repeatedly taken responsibility for when bettered by his team mate.
So if Elkann’s comments were directed at anyone in particular, it would have been Leclerc for his pre-weekend declaration. Yet it appears the Ferrari presidents ticking off wasn’t a response in particular to anything either driver said in Brazil.
Neither Ferrari drivers have been particular sweetness and light this season and its because they do not have a car capable of winning even one Grand Prix. Hamilton did say in the summer there’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great,” which opened the window on the disharmony in Maranello.
He also called for “structural adjustments” which suggests certain heads of department are not performing to the erred standard and should be replaced. All this is devisive talk and likely to stir the politics back at base.
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Its a failure to understand the ways of Ferrari
To suggest Elkann’s comments were reactionary to a specific incident is to fail to understand the man, Ferrari and its history. Luca de Montezemolo when he was president would often issue such calls to the team, but there was always a hidden agenda.
The current agenda is clearly about bringing about unity within the team, although calling out the drivers is hardly the way to go about it.
Back in 2016, Sebastian Vettel was slapped down by team boss Arrivabene for his outspoken views of the team, Sebastian was told he would have to “earn his place” for 2017. This kind of rhetoric is normal at Ferrari and may well not indicate any particular impending drama, its just the way the culture in Maranello is.
If put another way, it would be easier to understand. Elkann: “Lift and coast baby, no complaining please”
Ferrari “consider a Sainz return”
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…. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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Suspension changes to rectify aerodynamic issues could be justified since ride height is key to how much downforce and predictability the car ends up with. However, Ferrari ended last season with a very good car, made worse now.