Bernie Ecclestone scolds ‘financial marketing project’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone reduced Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari to a “financial marketing project” in a damning assessment.

With Hamilton struggling to make a success of his first season with Ferrari, Ecclestone also took aim at Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, claiming that he is not the “dictator” which Ferrari needs to successfully run the team.

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While Hamilton has found improved pace in the second half of F1 2025, he will go into the Sao Paulo Grand Prix 64 points behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings. Hamilton is yet to register his first grand prix podium with Ferrari.

It was a move designed to revitalise Hamilton’s career after a challenging final few years at Mercedes, but his pursuit of a record eighth world championship appears in danger unless he and Ferrari can turn the tide under the new chassis and engine regulations coming for F1 2026.

It is a partnership which certainly has not impressed Ecclestone, who in a sport.de interview, gave his typically unfiltered opinion.

Ecclestone bluntly stated his belief that Hamilton is “one of the best of the last ten years, but he’s not the best”, while he dismissed the union of Hamilton and Ferrari as a “financial marketing project”.

Ecclestone added on Hamilton: “Everything is slipping away from him there. He wanted to become world champion there and is now surprised that he can’t do it.”

Vasseur – who has been at the Ferrari helm since 2023 and signed a new multi-year deal in the summer – is not the style of leader which Ferrari requires, according to Ecclestone.

“The problem is that Ferrari needs a dictator at the top to be successful,” Ecclestone suggested.

“They don’t speak Italian there, they speak Ferrarian. Everyone in Italy has a say and interferes in what is right and wrong.”

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Four rounds remain for Hamilton to generate some momentum heading into F1 2026, though he has made it clear that this is a long-term project at Ferrari to reap the rewards.

Not since their 2008 Constructors’ Championship win has Ferrari enjoyed title glory in Formula 1.

“It’s beautiful and there have been plenty of positives, although a lot of responsibility and weight comes with it,” said Hamilton of his alliance with the team in a Ferrari Magazine interview.

“Everyone expects to win straight away, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. How long did it take? We’ll have to look that up.”

Hamilton said “not many people” are fully aware of how long it takes time to win in Formula 1, adding: “Only when you’re inside a team can you really, truly understand how it works and how F1 works. You can’t imagine how the machine really operates otherwise.

“I’ve been in F1 for so long, but when I came to this team it really was different again.

“So I don’t blame people for not knowing.

“All I can do is continue to focus on the things that I can control. How I prepare and work with the team. How I show up each day and stay positive.”

Hamilton has a vital role to play in the Ferrari’s runner-up quest in the F1 2025 Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari currently holds P2, one point ahead of Mercedes and 10 up on Red Bull.

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