Ferrari’s emphatic ‘will’ win again stance after Alesi delivers ’embarrassing’ criticism

Relegated to fourth in the championship, Ferrari’s worst result since 2020, Ferrari legend Jean Alesi is “seriously worried” as team principal Fred Vasseur’s 2026 reasoning is a “very weak excuse”.

Ferrari is guaranteed, as if that’s a prize, P4 in this year’s Constructors” Championship. The Scuderia cannot, even with a 1-2 in Abu Dhabi and Red Bull not scoring, beat the Milton Keynes outfit to the final position on the season’s podium.

‘I’m seriously worried about the future…’

The only one of the top four teams without a grand prix win on the board, Ferrari team principal Vasseur has put it down to the team’s decision early in the season to focus solely on next year’s all-car car.

Nearing the end of a season in which both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have complained about the lack of upgrades, Vasseur told PlanetF1.com and other media in Qatar: “We decided very early into the season, I think it was end of April, to switch to ’26.

“It was a tough call, and perhaps I also underestimated a little bit the call on the psychological side, because then when you have still 20 races to go, or 18 races to go, and you know that you won’t bring any aero development.”

But if you ask Leclerc, that does not justify the Scuderia’s results.

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“This year we sacrificed the second part of the season to work on next year’s car,” Leclerc said in Qatar, “so it’s not a big surprise that we are struggling now.

“What is surprising is being this far behind this weekend.

“You cannot explain such a performance with the fact that we started developing the next car. I’m not satisfied and we must find answers.”

P2 in the standings after the after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Ferrari has plummeted two places to fourth in the three races since.

Ferrari legend Jean Alesi isn’t buying the excuse of working on the F1 2026 car.

“I’m seriously worried about the future,” Alesi reportedly told Corriere della Sera. “Saying development was stopped in favour of next season seems a very weak excuse. All teams worked on two cars this year.

“Ferrari’s attitude is an embarrassing attempt to protect this failure.”

But while the Ferrari legend isn’t buying into it, Piero Ferrari, the son of Ferrari founder Enzo, is convinced there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking with RMC, he said: “In the history of Ferrari we have had ups and downs, in racing it happens. It doesn’t console me, but we have had worse moments and we have always managed to climb back up the slope. I remember 1973 and the ’75 World Cup after a growing 74 season, the crisis of the 90s and the subsequent triumphs.

“It’s part of racing.

“I’m confident that we’ll recover, we have some things that didn’t work, but I can guarantee that in Maranello we also have a lot of other things that work. The effort lies in putting them all together to get the most out of it and I’m sure we will.

“I have confidence in what good we have at home and as a fan I hope we can put all the pieces of the puzzle in a row.

“Ferrari will win again, we will certainly not give up, I know the excellence we have at our disposal.”

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