Funnily enough, Lapo, even with all his "demons", is way more passionate for Ferrari and sports in general than his brother.
Ferrari Chairman John Elkann said that drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to "focus on driving and talk less" after their performance in the Brazilian Grand Prix. His comments show deep problems in Ferrari, starting at the top. A good CEO doesn’t scold his key employees in a public media event. He made things worse when he also said: “If we look at our engineers, there's no doubt that the car has improved. If we look at the rest, it's not up to par.” He has taken sides in what is an obvious total team failure. This sort of thing happens in organizations that are crumbling. Not good for Ferrari. https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/c625eylz4kyo
He also said P2 in the Constructors was achievable!! Really!!! This guy has no clue and probably doesn't want to here any excuses. Talk about putting pressure on the team with 3 races to go.
The cars were designed and built at Maranello, with the help of consultants and subcontractors. The final development was done by AF Corse which also operate the team on behalf of Ferrari. They have lots of experience in endurance, having run a team for many years in different series.
Elkann needs to be forced out of all aspects of the car business. Stllantis needs to be broken up into the French cars and the Italian cars...with no common parts or business interests. Ferrari F1 should be sold to/combined with Haas. Let it replace Haas in the series and use Haas' minimalist costs to slowly rebuild the entire team. Charles and Lewis both have to go...they are burned out and useless at this point in their careers. Bearman and Hadjar are young and hungry and now well experienced. Kimi might consider moving in a year or two but right now I doubt it. Something about Piastri's decline is suspicious...he also might be a candidate. But the big key to the future is to get rid of everything and everyone connected with the current team...except the engine people...for now. McLaren had to rebuild and it wasn't easy. Ferrari has to bite the bullet and do the same.
Everything they've built in the last 75 years, including the last 20 or so years without a WCC or WDC, is the problem. Everyone associated with it must go and a new team must rise from the ashes.
New does not = success, ever. A new team means nothing unless the directives and procedures utilized are also altered after a very indepth analysis is done to ensure those mistakes or issues are not carried into the new team lol. So new management environment etc. Why invent a new one when successful one's exist, with lessons etc, that can be adopted from others and shape those to fit Ferrari internally. This assumes anyone is willing to do a complete and open look at what is not working now, with Board of Ferrari support to digest this effectively to start with. Hire someone like Stella or Mekies, and remove Vasseur to begin with. RedBull, Mclaren and Haas have a skilled, technically based Team Principal leading the Pitwall, the garage and the staff at large.
This is the wackiest thing you´ve ever said, and you´ve said a lot. Come on, chill out. There was a DNF because of crashes and a chairman who said something stupid because he had the hangover from Bahrain, it´s not the end of the world.
+1 Fred is a good team manager. Its known he has brought a calmness around the team it needed. The big risk was a new car for this year. It has not paid off. The ride height issue has no real fix and most of the issues are baked in etc. Car performance the 2 drivers cannot simply drive around. The world still turns.......
It's funny that Vasseur, unlike the CEO, doesn't want to play the blame game after the race. “It's a tough weekend (...) I don't care about who is at fault between Piastri and Antonelli, but for sure, it was not Charles." Source: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vasseur-reflects-on-ferraris-very-harsh-sao-paulo-gp.4NEwMLd0QrjHgjIyl6QsLG
According to Il Corriere Della Sera, the comment is aimed at Hamilton. He´s right, Hamilton talks a lot and delivers little, but hiring him was Elkann´s decision, and spanking someone in public is never a good policy.
I cannot believe that Hamilton and Elkann thought it was a wise decision to make a deal. It must have been motivated by greed, publicity and ego boosting on both sides. There was no way Hamilton could fullfil the prophesy of an 8th title at Ferrari. Within less than a year, it turned to be a failure, and and embarrassment, with egg on their faces for both parties. Ferrari hasn't gained anything; it probably went backwards. Now Elkann is showing his displeasure and it looks like this could end up in a divorce, with the Brit not finishing his 2-year contract.
He'll pull the same strategy if the Elettrica model fails... Engineers need to talk less and build better Ferrari EVs for him. Nothing is ever John's fault, he's the most competent human on Earth
Hamilton has only ‘failed’ (and arguably so) on track. He’s there to sell fashion and merch. Even Ecclestone recently commented on this. Ferrari’s numbers are up.
Lewis and Elkann can both hit the bricks as far as I'm concerned. Let them start a fashion line, they can model their own creations.
Leave the drugs mate...there is only one driver that could actualy substitute Charles, it's called max Verstapen, and i don't think he's crazy enough to join the circus!
Quite a few are kinda losing their minds over Elkann’s comments. I’m NO Elkann fan however it kinda makes sense from a few angles. 1. Don’t you guys know any Italians. This is typical Italian directness. 2. He can’t call Elton out by name and Elton had been quite vocal and needs to be quiet. LeClerc hasn’t said too much however did recently make it quite clear he’s interested in seeing what other teams can offer him. 3. When your car can’t be run at the ride height it was designed for it’s not going to perform. The car has a fundamental flaw that all are aware of so there is no need for drivers to complain so publicly when they know the car isn’t a winner. Here is a good video covering Elkann’s comments thoroughly.
