The opening day of the United States Grand Prix weekend brought nothing but disappointment for Scuderia Ferrari. Charles Leclerc finished only eighth in the Sprint Qualifying session, while Lewis Hamilton could do no better than tenth, leaving fans and experts concerned about the state of the Maranello team. Former Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli shared a blunt analysis on Sky Sport Italia, painting a picture of deep technical and managerial confusion within Ferrari.
“I see a Ferrari clearly struggling on several fronts,” Ivan Capelli explained. “From a technical and organizational standpoint, there’s a noticeable lack of coordination, and that directly affects performance, with times that seem confused and inconsistent. The overall picture looks rather muddled, almost as if the team is making the wrong decisions more often than expected.”
The tough Friday in Austin further exposed Ferrari’s operational instability inside the garage. Charles Leclerc, who had to replace his gearbox after the failure in FP1, was unable to find the right rhythm on track. The comparison with their direct rivals only made the performance gap more evident, leaving the team with many questions and few answers.
Ivan Capelli emphasized that Ferrari’s problems go beyond the technical side: “Even though they have the unfortunate alibi of the gearbox failure in FP1, the issue isn’t just technical. Lewis Hamilton also pointed out the lack of proper procedures, and yet he ended up stuck in the pit lane because of an error. That kind of mistake weighs heavily on the team.” – the Italian pointed out.
According to the former driver, the atmosphere within the Ferrari camp is not helping the situation either. “Continuous mistakes and technical issues inevitably create tension,” Ivan Capelli added. “This kind of pressure can easily lead to more slip-ups, building a vicious cycle that’s very hard to break.”
With McLaren showing strong pace and Max Verstappen continuing to impress at the front, Ferrari now faces the urgent task of regrouping to prevent the Austin crisis from turning into a streak of poor performances in the upcoming races. The team must rediscover its focus and discipline if it hopes to close the gap to its competitors and regain consistency in this crucial phase of the season.
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