Former Ferrari test driver Nicola Larini has defended Fred Vasseur’s leadership of the Maranello team, arguing that Ferrari’s senior management should avoid interfering in sporting decisions and recalling how Luca di Montezemolo combined extraordinary authority with patience during the team’s difficult years. Having witnessed Ferrari’s struggles in the early 1990s and its subsequent recovery under Jean Todt, the former driver believes that constantly searching for someone to blame is not the answer when results fall short of expectations.
His reflections come at a particularly significant moment for Ferrari. With three races remaining in the 2026 Formula 1 season, Mercedes has already secured both world championships, leaving the Italian team facing another year without a title.
Ferrari currently occupies second place in the Constructors’ Championship with 510 points, 142 behind Mercedes and 95 ahead of Red Bull. McLaren follows in fourth position with 398 points. The Scuderia remains one of the strongest teams on the grid, but the gap to the championship winners illustrates why questions continue to surround the direction of the Maranello operation.
Whenever Ferrari falls short of its objectives, the same debate tends to return: should responsibility lie with team principal Fred Vasseur, or with the senior executives who oversee the organisation? Nicola Larini, who served as a Ferrari test driver for much of the 1990s, does not believe that the team’s leadership should interfere excessively in sporting matters.
Nicola Larini defends Fred Vasseur and Ferrari’s sporting management
“No, not at all. I believe senior management doesn’t interfere too much. And that’s how it should be: once you’ve entrusted sporting management to someone of considerable importance, someone you’ve selected from those you believe are the best, you can’t keep interfering too much. You can perhaps have your own opinion, but…” Nicola Larini explained.
The former Ferrari driver also offered a more positive assessment of the team’s current competitiveness than many disappointed supporters might expect.
“I think Ferrari is competitive now. It’s not as though it isn’t, because, more or less, this year, after Mercedes, I think they’re next. Unfortunately, that’s how Formula 1 works: the best overall package wins, and that ultimately includes the drivers, because if the car isn’t competitive, the drivers can’t do anything. […] There are all sorts of elements that work well when everything is going well, but when something isn’t right, people always look for a scapegoat.”
His assessment reflects the distinction between being competitive and having the complete package required to win a world championship. Ferrari’s position behind Mercedes in the 2026 standings supports the former driver’s view that the team remains among the leading contenders, even if it has been unable to mount a successful title challenge.
The wider performance differences between Ferrari and its competitors can also be explored through the Ferrari versus F1 rivals statistics, which provide comparisons of the Italian team’s results and competitiveness against other constructors.
How Luca di Montezemolo commanded respect at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit
Nicola Larini’s comments inevitably raise another question: does the Ferrari of today lack a figure with the authority and personality of Luca Cordero di Montezemolo?
The former test driver worked alongside Luca di Montezemolo for several years during his presidency of Ferrari and retains particularly vivid memories of the atmosphere whenever the Italian executive visited the team’s facilities at Fiorano.
“Luca di Montezemolo was a man of strong character. I spent quite a few years with him when I was at Ferrari, so I had the opportunity to get to know him, and I have to say that when he came to the garages at Fiorano, everyone stood to attention. They looked like soldiers. I don’t know what the current situation is like, but he was someone who demanded a lot: he gave, but he also expected a lot in return.”
That demanding approach became an important characteristic of Luca di Montezemolo’s leadership. However, his period in charge was not defined solely by discipline and high expectations. It also involved difficult decisions and considerable patience during one of Ferrari’s most challenging periods.
Luca di Montezemolo returned to Maranello as president at the end of 1991, almost two decades after serving as sporting director during the era of Niki Lauda. The team he inherited was struggling badly, and the immediate prospects of returning to the top were far from encouraging.
Ferrari’s difficult 1992 and 1993 seasons before the Michael Schumacher era
Ferrari failed to win a single Grand Prix in either 1992 or 1993. Nicola Larini experienced those difficult years first-hand while driving the cars being developed by the Maranello engineers.
Recalling the challenges facing the team and its president, the former driver explained that Ferrari’s eventual return to championship success required years of rebuilding.
“He didn’t have an easy time at the beginning, because Ferrari in the 1990s wasn’t straightforward. The team gradually climbed back towards the end, until it was able to win its first World Championship, the one in 2000, which was the culmination of a succession of years managed by Jean Todt. […] It was a really dark period: 1992 in particular, 1993, those were tough years.”
The turning point began with the arrival of Jean Todt in the summer of 1993. Ferrari’s victory drought finally ended the following year, when Gerhard Berger won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, but even the arrival of the German champion did not produce an immediate transformation. The team continued to encounter serious difficulties, and the path towards sustained success remained demanding.
Those difficult seasons eventually became the foundation of one of the most successful periods in Ferrari’s history, although the decisive championship breakthroughs were still several years away.
Why Luca di Montezemolo refused to replace Jean Todt during Ferrari’s struggles
One of the most revealing examples of Luca di Montezemolo’s management approach came in 1996. Following retirements at the Canadian and French Grands Prix, Jean Todt declared himself prepared to resign from his position.
Rather than accepting the resignation and changing the team’s leadership, Luca di Montezemolo decided to keep the French manager in charge. He instructed the organisation to continue working and avoid becoming distracted by external criticism.
That decision proved significant in Ferrari’s subsequent recovery. The Scuderia finally secured the Constructors’ Championship in 1999, before Michael Schumacher delivered the Drivers’ World Championship in 2000.
It was Ferrari’s first Drivers’ title since Jody Scheckter’s triumph in 1979, ending a 21-year wait. The importance of those achievements, together with the records established by the team’s most successful drivers, can be explored through the Ferrari F1 driver records and statistics.
The president who commanded such extraordinary discipline whenever he visited Fiorano was also the man who refused to replace his sporting director during one of the most difficult moments of the rebuilding process.
For Nicola Larini, that experience offers an important lesson for Ferrari’s current situation. His message regarding Fred Vasseur is essentially to allow the French manager to continue his work rather than constantly questioning his position whenever results become disappointing.
Does Ferrari need more patience or greater pressure in 2026?
However, Luca di Montezemolo’s approach involved more than simply trusting the people he appointed. He combined that confidence with demanding standards and a commanding presence that could be felt throughout the Ferrari organisation.
That distinction is particularly relevant as Ferrari reflects on another unsuccessful championship campaign. Mercedes has already secured the 2026 titles, while John Elkann’s stated championship ambitions for Ferrari have not been fulfilled.
The question is therefore not merely whether Fred Vasseur should remain in charge, but whether the current management structure has found the right balance between giving its sporting leadership sufficient time and maintaining the pressure required to achieve results.
Ferrari’s history demonstrates that rebuilding a championship-winning organisation can demand considerable patience. Yet the example of Luca di Montezemolo also shows that patience does not necessarily mean lowering expectations or accepting underperformance.
The 21 years between Jody Scheckter’s 1979 championship and Michael Schumacher’s triumph in 2000 remain a powerful reminder of how difficult that balance can be to achieve.
As Ferrari approaches the final three races of 2026, the question remains whether the Maranello team needs more patience with Fred Vasseur, greater pressure from its leadership, or the same carefully judged combination of both that eventually helped deliver its historic recovery.
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