Senior Ferrari figure highlights key factor slowing F1 title goal

Gone are the days when a team can throw money at their problems in Formula 1.

As such, Ferrari vice chairman Piero Ferrari claims that makes modern Formula 1 success “very complicated” to achieve. The Scuderia’s seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton is hard at work behind the scenes trying to install the “series of winning factors” which Piero alludes to.

When will Ferrari end their F1 world title drought?

Not since 2008 has Ferrari reached the Formula 1 summit as Constructors’ Champions. You need to go back a year further to find their most recent Drivers’ Champion in Kimi Raikkonen.

In the time since, we have had two cycles of Red Bull dominance and the Mercedes era, with McLaren now emerging as the new dominant force.

Ferrari missed out on the 2024 Constructors’ title to McLaren in an Abu Dhabi end-of-season showdown, McLaren kicking on from there to establish itself as the clear standard.

Ferrari is second in the F1 2025 standings but 299 points behind McLaren, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have formed a McLaren-exclusive Drivers’ title battle.

Ferrari’s draught is destined to continue for another season, and in a La Gazzetta dello Sport interview, vice chairman Piero Ferrari was asked why it has been so long since Ferrari were on top.

He pointed to how the budget cap, introduced in 2021, means that spending your way out of trouble is no longer an option.

“I think it’s a matter of cycles,” he said. “F1 has always worked like this, and when you start a negative cycle, you don’t know when you’ll hit rock bottom.

“Today, it’s very complicated because you can’t spend more money to bridge the gaps, given the budget cap restrictions. You need to put together a series of winning factors to change course.”

And that is exactly what Hamilton is trying to help Ferrari achieve.

The on-track performances have not always been up to scratch for the seven-time World Champion, who arrived at Ferrari in a big-money deal.

But he is looking to use his record-breaking winning experience in Formula 1 to set Ferrari up for fresh title glory.

F1 2026 represents major opportunity for Ferrari and all teams, with the chassis and engine regulations to be overhauled.

How F1 2026 is shaping up

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“I see a huge amount of potential within this team,” Hamilton stated. “The passion, nothing comes close to that. But it’s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be.

“That’s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team, particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions.

“If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers: Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian — all World Champions. However, they didn’t win a World Championship [Raikkonen did with Ferrari in 2007].

“I refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I’m going the extra mile.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams. While things are different because there’s a different culture and everything, I think if you take the same path all the time, you get the same results. So I’m just challenging certain things.

“They’ve been incredibly responsive. We’ve been improving in so many areas, through marketing, through everything we are delivering for sponsors, the way the engineers continue to work. There’s still a lot of improvements to be made, but they’ve been very responsive.

“Ultimately, I’m just trying to create allies within the organisation and get them geed up, get them pushing. I’m here to win. I don’t have as much time as this one here [gestures to Kimi Antonelli], so it’s crunch time.

“I truly believe in the potential of this team. I really believe they can win multiple World Championships moving forward. They already have an amazing legacy. But during my time, that’s my sole goal.”

Hamilton sits sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, one position and 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

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