The Maranello festive bash is almost upon us and its usually a time for the F1 team’s management to throw some bones to the hard core Italian media and fans. Last season Fred Vasseur revealed at the Christmas celebrations that for 2025 the team were building a “completely new car” sharing less than 1% of its predecessor.
This decision came back to haunt Vasseur and Loic Sera as they took a drastically wrong step in terms of their suspension layout, something which plagues the race team all season and meant the car was abandoned in terms of aero upgrades in April, as Vasseur revealed in Qatar.
Parsing the various comments Lewis Hamilton has made during the 2025 season, it appears there’s an arrogance in Maranello that despite winning nothing for almost twenty years, is holding the team back and creating repeated mistakes.
The Hamilton files
Coming into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton once again re-iterated he had been collecting a dossier throughout the year on changes Ferrari need to make. “It definitely has been the most challenging year both in and out of the car. I’ve got so many notes in terms of things we need to improve on,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“Time will tell whether or not we act on those things and we keep hold of the things that are good and change the things that are not – and there’s plenty of those. There’s literally no reason why we couldn’t fix those if we just put those into action. I’m hopeful for us making progress.”
This is a very bold statement from Hamilton particularly after the Ferrari chairman, John Elkann had publicly told his drivers to “talk less and focus on driving more,” just weeks earlier.
Just the disconnect between Hamilton and John Elkann who has supposed to be a life long friend and responsible for the seven times champions move to Ferrari – is striking. Hamilton also revealed he wanted some changes to his personal team, which presumable includes his race engineer whom he regularly berated over team radio this year.
‘Piastri talks with rival team’ says insider
Former McLaren boss demands works based team
Further, “structures” needed to change, according to Hamilton’s revelations earlier in the season and all in all with the Italian media exposing weekly issues at the team, Ferrari a truly in a massive hole.
Interestingly, another once giant of Formula One was in a pit of their own making, as McLaren who once built the most dominant F1 car in history languished towards the back of the midfield. Then team boss Ron Dennis was obsessed with his team having the support of a single engine manufacturer.
“Our goal is to win the world championship,” he said in 2015, “and that objective would not be within our reach if we continued with a customer engine.” But the hookup with Honda proved to be disastrous. The Japanese manufacturer arrived back in the sport a year after the new V6 turbo hybrids had been introduced.
Their engines were unreliable and lacked power with Fernando Alonso famously claiming of the PU at the Japanese Grand Prix, “It feels like GP2. Embarrassing. Very embarrassing. I’ll do my best.” The Spaniard on lap six had just been overtaken by the lowly Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.
Villeneuve rejects common Verstappen theory
McLaren blamed their engine supplier
Zak Brown had arrived at McLaren the team in 2016 as executive director. He later became CEO of McLaren racing and he now documents the journey from the hopeless days with Honda to back to back constructor championships and a first drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008 – ironically when Ferrari last won the constructors’.
The American says he 2was shocked at the arrogance he found amongst the engineers who merely blamed Honda for their shocking results between 2015-17.
Matt Morris, the team’s Chief Engineering Officer, disclosed in an interview with F1 Today back in 2017 that he believed McLaren’s MCL32 chassis is, despite the team’s horrible 2017 performance so far, among the best on the grid. “We now have one of the best cars in the field,” was a cry regularly being made implying their Honda engine was the problem.
F1 calendar crisis; races falling away and new promoters dry up
Brown “socked” at McLaren “arrogance”
This attitude permeated the Woking team, but Brown was not fooled as the switch to Renault power in 2018 was very revealing. Speaking to BAT, Brown reveals, “I didn’t know how bad it was until I got there. I was a bit shocked, because there was an arrogance we had that it was all Honda’s fault, our engine provider. Certainly, we had a big issue on the power unit front.
“But that was far from our only issue. There was an element of arrogance in the organisation that it was like, ‘Well, we’re great. It’s just their problem’.” Brown accepts the switch to Renault improved the team’s standing from 9th to P6, but even then he was unhappy with the lack of accountability within the team. “We’ve got to own that,” he says.
McLaren again switched PU supplier moving to Mercedes, but it was to be twelve long seasons from their final win in Brazil in 2012 to the next one purely on merit. Prior to that Daniel Ricciardo did win the Italian Grand Prix in Monza 2021, but it was gifted to him following a coming together between Hamilton and Verstappen.
FIA confirms terms for new 2026 technology
Do Ferrari need to listen to Hamilton?
Lando Norris maiden win in Miami 2024 was again a gift of safety car timing but come Hungary just a few mon the later, the team could celebrate their first win entirely on merit for twelve years.
From reading the Italian media this year and following the comments of Lewis Hamilton in particular, it feels as though Ferrari are where McLaren were a decade ago. There was an arrogance about the decision to build an entirely new car for 2025, given it was the final year of the technical regulations.
The arrogance saw the team decide to abandon all hope in the SF-25 in April. They were the first of the big teams to shift all their focus onto 2026 – and expectations in Italy are again high. But the impression one gets as an outsider is that Fred Vasseur is too nice a guy to read the riot act to the engineers and call out the arrogance within the squad whilst demanding its time for change.
Dr. Helmut Marko’s gaffes explored
Formula One is becoming ever more of a slick corporate operation. The drivers are media savvy and gone are the days when after a poor time on track, one competitor would come out and lambast their rival.
For Oscar Piastri there were moments when it looked as though his PR training would be forgotten when he stood alone and forlorn after a ten second penalty at there British Grand Prix.
The Aussie’s heart felt radio message in Qatar after realising McLaren had made a huge strategic mistake, “I have no words” said the desperate Australian. Yet one individual remained in Formula One who was unfiltered and outspoken in Dr. Helmut Marko…. 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.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
