Ferrari receives ‘out of control’ warning after ‘shocking’ chairman statement

Jacques Villeneuve found Ferrari chairman John Elkann’s unexpected, blunt statement about the Formula 1 team “a bit shocking”, and hopes that there are no ramifications for the future.

Villeneuve, the 1997 World Champion, said “it gets dirty” when the emotions of a disappointed team get out into the media, and warned that Ferrari is teetering on a slippery slope.

Jacques Villeneuve hopes Ferrari history not repeating itself

Following the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Elkann called out underperforming parts of the Ferrari F1 squad, and told drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to “focus on driving, talk less.”

On the same weekend, Ferrari celebrated winning a title double in the World Endurance Championship. In Brazil, the F1 squad was left ruing a double DNF.

Leclerc was collateral damage when Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli collided, while Hamilton picked up what proved to be terminal damage when he hit the back of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.

In the aftermath, president Elkann delivered a statement in Milan which sources within Ferrari suggested was an attempt at motivation.

“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” Elkann said.

“In Formula 1, we have mechanics who are always first in performing pit stops. The engineers work to improve the car.

“The rest is not up to par.

“We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less, and we have important races ahead of us, and it is not impossible to finish second.”

Villeneuve believes that this situation is nothing new with Ferrari, though warned the team of the perils which come with it spilling out into the public domain.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

“We shouldn’t be surprised because remember how it ended up with [Alain] Prost, with [Nigel] Mansell, with [Fernando] Alonso, with [Sebastian] Vettel. It seems to be a trend at Ferrari. Ferrari comes first. And Ferrari will always protect Ferrari,” Villeneuve told a gambling platform.

“I didn’t see comments that were detrimental to the team coming from the drivers. So, it’s the chairman who’s done this, but this came just after winning the WEC. I guess he was pinpointing how amazing the team in WEC did, compared to F1. But it’s a different ball game.

“It was a bit shocking, but it seems to be the Ferrari way when you look at the past. Most drivers have broken their teeth there, most drivers with personality. It’s a strange environment.

“Brazil just turned out bad, not because there was a lack of pace or because the drivers were doing bad. I think that came out a little bit of left field, purely linked to winning the WEC.

“A driver is not an employee of the team, he’s an independent. And he’s a human being, so you also take a personality, you take drivers that also can think, who can help move the team forward. They’re not little robots that you put in a place and basically do everything you want, just at the move of a fingertip.

“It’s part and parcel of sports. You have emotions, you have energy, and it will go both ways. And I’m sure that’s what happened with the chairman as well. The emotions of winning and then a bad weekend result-wise in Brazil. So, the two mixed together created a big reaction.

“We live in an era where everything gets multiplied, whether it’s on social media or gets over-analysed.

“But I don’t see how those comments can be helpful, not least in creating a positive mindset because they’ve always seemed to be quite united with their team. They both seemed to be using their social media channels to call for unity.

“Obviously, the energy at Ferrari is not great, which is not surprising. It’s been years of not winning. There were high hopes this year, so it’s been a big let-down. So, of course the emotions run high. The problem is that when it gets out into the media, it gets dirty and that’s never a nice thing. Then it gets bigger than it is and it can get out of control mostly with the fans and the media.

“We really have to be careful with that because it’s a slippery road. Hopefully that’s where it will stop because we’ve seen what happened with Prost, Mansell, almost every driver with a personality that has been in Ferrari.

“It would be a shame, if it went that way again.”

To Elkann’s point, Ferrari remains very much in the battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship. The team is fourth with three rounds to go, but Mercedes in second is only 36 points up the road.

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