Ferrari slammed by Italian media after Baku disaster as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fail to deliver
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was supposed to be a turning point for Scuderia Ferrari. With Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both showing front-running pace during free practice, optimism was high within the team and among the Tifosi. The Briton even believed that a pole position challenge was on the cards. Instead, what unfolded in Baku was described by the Italian press as another Ferrari catastrophe, marked by driver errors, strategic blunders, and bitter internal tensions.
Ferrari’s qualifying collapse sets the tone
The weekend began to unravel during qualifying. Charles Leclerc’s chances evaporated when he crashed out, while a tire allocation mistake left Lewis Hamilton stranded in Q2. The seven-time world champion had to settle for 12th on the grid, with his Maranello teammate managing only 10th. Those poor starting positions set the stage for another weekend of disappointment, with Charles Leclerc finishing ninth and Hamilton salvaging only eighth place after a race full of missed opportunities.
Italian media react with fury
La Gazzetta dello Sport was particularly scathing, branding the weekend a “nightmare” and accusing Hamilton of showing little respect for Ferrari’s team orders. The criticism referred to the final laps, where Leclerc had earlier yielded to Hamilton so that the Briton could attack rivals Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lando Norris. However, Hamilton refused to return the position before the chequered flag, leaving Leclerc visibly frustrated and sparking a fresh wave of controversy.
The newspaper emphasized how the weekend had initially looked promising for Ferrari, with the car showing strong pace in practice. Yet the outcome was another pair of underwhelming midfield finishes, extending Ferrari’s winless streak in 2025 and raising serious questions about the team’s competitiveness. While Leclerc has managed several podiums this season, Hamilton is still without one, a stark contrast to his ambitions when he left Mercedes for Maranello.
Sainz adds insult to injury with Williams podium
Adding to the embarrassment was Carlos Sainz, the man Hamilton replaced at Ferrari. The Spaniard secured a podium for Williams in Baku, which Italian outlets framed as a form of poetic revenge. La Gazzetta celebrated Sainz’s result as “fantastic,” contrasting it with Ferrari’s ongoing struggles and missed opportunities. The symbolism was not lost on fans, as Sainz thrived while Ferrari sank deeper into frustration.
Corriere dello Sport: ‘noise for nothing’
Corriere dello Sport echoed the harsh tone, arguing that Ferrari’s weekend was filled with “a lot of noise for absolutely nothing.” The newspaper criticized mistakes across the board—driver errors, tire issues, and power unit problems. It also noted that Ferrari’s failure in Baku saw them slip behind Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship and left them only 14 points clear of Red Bull, with the battle for second place intensifying.
The outlet also highlighted the tension between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, calling the team’s intra-squad squabble over eighth place “an unnecessary battle between powerless people.” For a team with Ferrari’s history, the description underlined just how far the Scuderia has fallen from its former glory.
Corriere della Sera: ‘Ferrari has become a joke’
Corriere della Sera went even further, bluntly stating that Ferrari has become “a joke” both online and within the championship itself. The paper described widespread anger over Hamilton’s refusal to hand back the position to Leclerc, while also highlighting Charles Leclerc’s crash in qualifying as a costly error. The commentary concluded that Ferrari had gone from dreaming on Friday to enduring a nightmare by Sunday, with Leclerc and Hamilton both complicit in the collapse.
The paper also emphasized the irony of Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. The seven-time champion joined the Scuderia with the dream of chasing an eighth world title, but instead, he found himself finishing eighth in Baku—behind even a Racing Bull. For fans and pundits alike, it was a sobering reality check on Ferrari’s current decline.
Ferrari’s season at a crossroads
After another disastrous weekend, Ferrari find themselves at a critical point in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The partnership of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc was supposed to elevate the team back to title contention, but the Azerbaijan Grand Prix highlighted the same problems that have plagued Ferrari for years: strategic missteps, driver errors, and internal tension. With Mercedes now ahead in the standings and Red Bull closing in fast, Ferrari’s battle is no longer for the championship—it is to avoid humiliation.
For Hamilton, the wait for a podium in red goes on. For his Maranello teammate, the frustration of carrying Ferrari without tangible results is mounting. And for the Tifosi, patience is wearing dangerously thin. Unless the team finds answers quickly, 2025 could be remembered not as the season Ferrari returned to the top, but as the year its decline deepened.
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