The former driver highlights that the Maranello team lacks a true technical leader
The words of the former driver
“Since Vasseur’s contract renewal, Ferrari has collapsed,” said Jacques Villeneuve recently, and after the Singapore Grand Prix, Pino Allievi also emphasized during his Caffè column that the Maranello team is in decline, calling for action from the management.
A year ago in the United States, Ferrari achieved a stunning one-two finish with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. This year, however, there is little hope that Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton can replicate that 2024 result with the SF-25, a mediocre car with no major weaknesses but also no real strengths. Moreover, the ongoing issue of lift and coast has reportedly tested Frederic Vasseur’s patience to its limit.
Riccardo Patrese believes that what Ferrari truly lacks is a technical ‘totem’ figure to rely on. “Ferrari is focusing on 2026 now, yes, but the problem with Ferrari is that they are Ferrari,” said the former driver in an interview with Escapist Magazine. “There is no one there who holds the kind of position Adrian Newey has at Red Bull or Andrea Stella has at McLaren.”
Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola, speaking recently on Race Anatomy on Sky, also stated that Ferrari lacks a proper technical director. That role has been assigned by Frederic Vasseur to Loic Serra, who arrived from Mercedes and has been operational in Maranello for about a year now. Previously, the technical director was Enrico Cardile, who now works for Aston Martin — the same team that managed to secure Adrian Newey’s services when Ferrari seemed to have the upper hand in negotiations with the aerodynamics genius.
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