F1 | Alesi slams Ferrari: “Stopping upgrades was an embarrassing attempt to defend the 2025 failure”
Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi didn’t hold back. In his column for the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Jean Alesi used extremely harsh tones to comment on Ferrari’s decision to halt development of the SF-25 early in the season to focus on the 2026 car.
Just three days after the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Jean Alesi’s words hit like a thunderclap, breaking the silence surrounding Ferrari’s disappointing year.
The former Ferrari driver, who had recently avoided commenting on the team’s on-track results, this time didn’t hold back. His column has had a significant media impact, drawing attention to Ferrari’s strategic choices.
Strong words from the Avignon-born driver were mostly aimed at a team that failed to respond to the not-so-subtle signals from chairman John Elkann. But what angered Jean Alesi the most was Ferrari’s decision to halt SF-25 development very early – reportedly as early as April – to focus on the 2026 car.
According to Jean Alesi, all teams have been balancing development of both the 2025 and 2026 cars. This was a common challenge, making Ferrari’s excuses seem like a poorly executed attempt to defend a terrible season.
“I avoided talking about Ferrari in recent months. I do it now with great disappointment. I thought the criticisms expressed by the chairman toward the drivers would push the team to react, to give Leclerc and Hamilton a more competitive car. Instead, in Qatar we saw the worst GP ever. A total disappointment for us fans, both considering how Ferrari started the season and how they performed afterward.”
“Lewis may bear some responsibility, but he has won seven world titles, while Ferrari had nothing. I am seriously concerned about the future. Saying all development was stopped to prepare next year’s car seems like a very weak excuse. All teams did double work in 2025 – improving on track while developing the 2026 car. Ferrari’s approach looks like an embarrassing attempt to protect this failure.”
While Jean Alesi was scathing toward Ferrari, he reserved praise for Max Verstappen. The four-time world champion and Red Bull received high marks for a superb comeback and for his determination to keep fighting, even when it seemed the team might give up on the title.
“Regardless of how it ends, special mention for Verstappen. A true role model: he never gives up, motivates the team, and is in perfect symbiosis with his crew. Excellent.”
As Ferrari heads to Abu Dhabi locked into a disappointing fourth place, Jean Alesi’s intervention has reignited the debate inside the passionate tifosi base – and put even more pressure on Fred Vasseur and the team to deliver a radically different story in 2026.
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