The crumbling dynasty of Ferrari
- Maham Mir
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Morgan Holiday
Former Formula One commentator Will Buxton once said: “Ferrari is more than a brand. It’s more than a car company. For Italians, it’s life. There are two religions in Italy. There’s the Catholic Church, and then there’s Ferrari.”
Yet, despite this cornerstone position occupied by Ferrari in F1 as the most successful team of all time, they have failed to reach championship glory since 2007. Notable drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso joined the team with high expectations and were forced to depart with only disappointment to show for it.
Likewise, different members of management have either joined the Scuderia or been promoted from the internal ranks in the hopes of being the chosen one to bring glory to the factory streets in Maranello.
While many have tried, drivers and management alike, to bring Ferrari back to the top step at the pinnacle of motorsports, they have all fallen short in their own ways. After such an extended period away from the top, the question must be asked - what is going wrong for Ferrari?
Looking at their 2025 season, John Elkann, Ferrari’s Chairman, recently spoke to the media in response to Leclerc and Hamilton’s recent comments. Both drivers spoke of their disappointment in the media after the disastrous São Paulo Grand Prix where the team result was a double DNF.
In response to the disappointment expressed by his drivers, Elkann stated: "We definitely have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less because we still have important races ahead of us and getting second place is not impossible.”
With the conclusion of the season, Ferrari finished P4 in the World Constructor’s Championship, 53 points behind Red Bull in third place and 71 points behind Mercedes who occupy the runner-up spot. Compared to 2024 where Ferrari were able to push McLaren until the final race before conceding the championship, this season’s fall from grace is heavily intertwined with the team’s gamble on a new technical direction.
Ahead of the 2025 season, the Ferrari team was vocal about the dramatic shift that the SF-25 had taken in comparison to its championship-contending predecessor. Considering that the car was described as a completely new car, expectations were simultaneously reserved but also high.
Gambling on a new technical direction in the final year of a set of regulations was perhaps not what Fred Vasseur had in mind for his second year as Team Principal and his first without the overhanging decisions of his predecessor Mattia Binotto. Yet, he backed the team and stated: “We feel ready as a team to take the extra step required to be the best.”
Unfortunately, “the best” is perhaps not the label that comes to mind when looking at Ferrari’s performance this season. While Vasseur might insist that “disaster is not the right word” for the team’s inconsistent performance throughout the season, it cannot be denied that their fall from grace is evident in their backwards trajectory in the WCC.
Looking at the drivers’ 2025 season, it has produced only modest results as their winless streak continues. Leclerc’s seven podiums, with P2s in Monaco and Mexico, are better than his teammate who failed to step on the podium for a full-length Grand Prix in his maiden season with the team. Hamilton’s best result of the season, and Ferrari’s best result as well, was his sprint race win in Shanghai in round two of the championship.
Leclerc’s association with the team, beyond his childhood dreams of racing in red, goes back to the Ferrari Driver Academy. Yet, while the team has waited 16 years to add to their tally of 16 world championship titles, even the racer with the number 16 has not been enough to bring this team back to the front.
For Hamilton, this maiden season at Ferrari has been full of records but not the kind he would be hoping to remember. Not only has this become his second season without a Grand Prix win, he has yet to qualify on pole and has also conceded his career-long record of scoring at least five podiums per season.
The history and legacy that Ferrari are so keen to live up to is unique given their success, however, across the grid, other historic names have undergone mass change in recent years to aid their fight back to the front. While McLaren and Williams, equally distinguished names in the world of motorsports, looked to the future when guiding their development, Ferrari has seemingly stayed stuck in their past glory days.
McLaren, under the leadership of Zak Brown, went from a team struggling to progress into Q2 during the mid-2010s to back-to-back Constructors’ Champions in 2024 and 2025. In the same vein, James Vowles is currently guiding Williams through a major rebuilding process in the hopes of bringing them back to championship glory.
Ferrari, in comparison, have faced major highs and lows during the last few years in seasons that reiterate their lack of consistency. Standout seasons in terms of their car development or lack of include 2019 and 2020 where the team finished P2 and P6 in the WCC respectively.
In 2019, Ferrari’s driver duo of Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel drove the SF90. After a disappointing first half of the season, Leclerc turned things around in his maiden season and recorded two consecutive wins at the Belgium Grand Prix followed by the Italian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, teammate Vettel emerged victorious under the lights in Singapore, his only victory in 2019.
However, their success was not without controversy as Ferrari’s power unit, given their immense straightline speed, was called into question by the FIA. A new technical directive regarding the fuel sensor system, which Ferrari was thought to have circumvented, coincided with Ferrari’s drop-off in performance. Eventually, after an investigation which concluded ahead of 2020’s pre-season testing, the FIA announced that they had reached a private agreement with the team.
The controversy followed the team into 2020, a heavily disrupted season due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast to their previous season, Ferrari recorded no victories and only two podiums which resulted in their P6 finish in the WCC. It was their worst finish as a team since finishing 10th in 1980.
While the goals of all three historic teams are the same, the actual performances they have produced could not be more different. Comparative to their historic counterparts, Ferrari's performance in the Constructors’ Championship has fluctuated in recent years as they finished P2 in 2024 and yet again have failed to find consistency in 2025.
Elkann’s comments about needing drivers who “focus on driving and talk less” is perhaps reflective of a wider institutional mindset of what Ferrari are willing to change and what remains beyond the limits of development. In recent years, the team’s decision to stick with their current development team while pinpointing their drivers and management as areas of improvement has caught the attention of many.
For critics of the team, the focus on the drivers and team principal falling short of expectations is an example of Ferrari clinging to glory days gone by. Instead of addressing the issue in the design of the car, the reason for which they are not competitive in wet weather and struggle for consistent pace, many feel that focus is being diverted to those already in the public eye to avoid accountability.
It is safe to say that Ferrari still have a long way to go before they are able to mount a championship bid once again. Operationally, true unity needs to be adopted by the team including management acknowledging the issues at hand. From a performance perspective, something heavily intertwined with the operational running of the team, their car has to be capable of delivering consistently like Red Bull or McLaren.
With the next major shift in technical regulations on the horizon, Ferrari have another opportunity to deliver something worthy of their famed legacy. Eyes up and down the paddock will be fixed on the prancing horses to see they will finally live up to the claims of next year being their year.
