Ferrari, in crisis and with a tense internal
The Maranello team did not achieve victories in the year, the engineers are angry with some statements by Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton presented another report and Frédéric Vasseur is juggling.
Going from the illusion of fighting for the title to begging for the possibility of achieving at least one victory in the season is too big a blow for a giant like Ferrari. That pompous presentation by Lewis Hamilton in the cold January of Maranello remained in the archive and emerges almost like sepia images of a dream that turned into a nightmare. La Rossa reaches the 19th round of the year, the United States GP, without wins, third in the Constructors’ World Championship and in the midst of an internal tension that promises to escalate as long as some balsamic result is not achieved.
According to Corriere della Sera, Hamilton submitted a report to the Scuderia leadership (the second of the year) in which he highlighted that there is a bad interaction between the factory and the performance on the track. The seven-time champion hoped to have more influence in decision-making, according to the Italian newspaper, but his requests were unfulfilled and he ran into internal policies to implement improvements.
The SF-25 was born badly. After a 2024 season that closed with five wins and runner-up in the Constructors’ championship (losing to McLaren by just 14 points), in Maranello they decided to make a completely new car, instead of a clean pass of the SF-24, in the last year of the ground effect regulations. The bet definitely went wrong, with a car conceived with errors that prevented it from turning with the ideal height to achieve the ideal downforce in this type of car.
The poor performance allowed Ferrari to barely achieve five podiums, all courtesy of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque did not spare criticism after the Singapore GP. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the car to compete with the leaders. McLaren has maintained the same lead over us since the beginning of the year. Red Bull took a step forward from Monza and is now on par with McLaren, Mercedes also achieved it. Then we arrived. Right now, we feel like passengers in the car and we can’t get much more out of it,” he lashed out.
Leclerc’s statements did not go down well with the engineers and fueled internal tensions. According to Corriere della Sera, Ferrari’s executive leadership, with president John Elkan and director Benedetto Vigna at the helm, has already lowered its dissatisfaction and is calling for urgent progress to avoid closing the year without victories.
In the middle is Frédéric Vasseur, the team manager, who is trying to weather the storm while his name is once again on the table. At the end of July, the Frenchman’s renewal for three seasons was announced, but even that does not quell rumors. Christian Horner was even mentioned to take his place, something that seems impossible due to the way the Englishman worked at Red Bull: total control. In Ferrari there is no chance; In fact, the team director has been the fuse that the Scuderia priests chose to blow several times in the face of the title drought. which has been in the drivers’ championship since 2007 and in the Constructors’ championship since 2008.
Ferrari denied a fight between Vasseur and Matteo Togninalli, the person in charge of coordinating track activities. Precisely the person in charge of that weak point that Hamilton marked: the arrival of Maranello on the asphalt. In the middle of all this, and always according to Corriere della Sera, the Cavallino would not have its best time with the FIA due to the frequent inspections that the entity would carry out at the red plant. Thus, the approach to changes in the SF-25 is very conservative, to avoid any problems. All in the midst of tension between the different departments.
In the midst of the crisis, F1 lands in Austin, with the fresh memory of the triumph achieved by Charles Leclerc in the 2024 visit. Today it seems to be very far from achieving something similar. “We know that we have not maximized the potential of our package in recent races, but the team is united and totally determined to change things,” said Vasseur to calm the waters.
