Lately, Ferrari in Formula 1 is unfortunately laughable, but in another field it is going full throttle: money! Yes, because if we take a look at the first quarter of 2025, the company shows growing revenues, with €1.8 billion more in profits compared to the first four months of 2024. As for net income, around €415 million went into the coffers, an increase of 18%. Naturally, chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna is very pleased.
But the mood when looking at the Maranello team is far from the figures flaunted in the previous paragraph. On the contrary, in sporting terms, the Maranello-based team is a disaster — precisely in a season where the goal was to aim for the Formula 1 title. To take that extra step and fight at the top of the highest category. And instead, here comes another disappointment that will hardly be erased during the current campaign.
Open Letter to the CEO of Ferrari
Dear Dr. Vigna,
As CEO of Ferrari, I am addressing you with this letter. I fully understand that at your level, a manager’s success is certainly not tied to sporting results, but to purely financial dynamics. After all, the shareholders’ meeting recently renewed its confidence in the top management of the Prancing Horse, re-electing both you and John Elkann as executive directors of the company.
Your presence in Miami was exclusively due to the need to celebrate the anniversary of the main commercial agreement between the Italian team and its title sponsor. The hope that you will understand what Ferrari represents for its fans has now faded. That passion belongs mainly to those who will never be able to buy a road car from Maranello — except as a scale model.
A group of people who can’t even afford to buy their loved ones a team cap, sold at the modest price of €125. Your absence — and that of the president — in the daily life of the team hurts. As the saying goes: “The eye of the master fattens the horse.” Unfortunately, the Ferrari horse is now emaciated. The absence of top management from the Formula 1 Commission meeting in Bahrain is a sign of disrespect.
It’s a sign of disrespect towards the fans and towards the Ferrari employees themselves, who work tirelessly to compensate for the total absence of the “owner.” A deafening void. The presence of team principal Frederic Vasseur at tables where political weight and influence within the organizational structure matter doesn’t look like a delegation — it feels more like passing the buck. And there’s another point I want to emphasize.
It would have been admirable to see a CEO sensitive to his brand’s image after the disgraceful performance of the Ferraris on track, even getting overtaken by Williams in the competitive pecking order. Perhaps you should have raised your voice in your position, and said something to the fans, because such a scenario is unacceptable from a team like Ferrari.
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Once again, the team principal of the Italian squad has given his version of events in a mix of clichés, weather-related hopes, such as rain dances not seen since the early ’90s, and excuses that have little to do with the reality of the situation. And the CEO in all this? Perhaps your mission ended when the veil was lifted on that awful livery created in tribute to HP.
Once upon a time, Enzo Ferrari would give up his own color in the States for political reasons, namely in protest against the Italian federation. Today, all it takes is profitable commercial deals and limited-edition clothing lines to fuel the marketing machine — which has also benefited from the arrival of Lewis Hamilton. By the end of the weekend, this is the bitter reality that millions around the world are struggling to digest.
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