Ferrari Boss Blasts Hamilton, Leclerc After Brazil Meltdown Drops Team Behind Red Bull
The big boss doesn't sound too happy with his drivers...
Whenever I talk to non-Formula 1 fans, I try to explain the teams using analogies, and I think the best one has to do with Ferrari.
Ferrari is to Formula 1 what the Dallas Cowboys are to the NFL, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are to the NHL.
These are teams with instantly recognizable brands, a history of success, but are currently in the midst of a dry spell.
But, despite the dry spell, they're met with massive scrutiny and anything short of a championship is a failure, which means there have been a lot of failures.
And when those failures happen, it can get ugly, as is the case with Ferrari right now.
In their first year with seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton in the fold, Ferrari is P4 in the constructors' standings with three Grand Prix and a Sprint Race left to run.
That may not sound terrible, but thanks to a brutal double-DNF for Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc in Brazil, they're now behind Red Bull, a team that has really been scoring with only one car all season long.
Ouch.
That latest disappointment led Ferrari chairman and CEO John Elkann to really let his drivers have it.
Ferrari Chairman and CEO John Elkann talks to team principal Fred Vasseur. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
"If we look at the season in F1, we can say we have mechanics who are winning the championship with the performances they're putting in, particularly with everything they are doing in our pit stops," Elkann said at an Italian Olympic Committee event, per Sky Sports. "If we look at our engineers, the car has undoubtedly improved. If we look at the rest, it's not up to standard."
And by "the rest," he means…
"We have drivers who need to focus more and talk less, because we still have important races to come, and finishing second in the constructors isn't impossible," he said.
Oh boy.
To be a fly on the walls of the Ferrari factory in Maranello…
Neither Hamilton nor Leclerc is going to love that, but it might be what they need to hit the ground running in 2026. Next year brings new engines, new cars, and an opportunity to leap up the running order in a hurry.
Ferrari is just 4 points behind Red Bull for P3, but as Elkann alluded to, they'll need a small miracle to catch Mercedes, which is 36 points ahead in P2.