Ferrari chairman John Elkann has publicly urged his drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, to concentrate on racing and “talk less” after a frustrating São Paulo Grand Prix weekend that included a double retirement and prompted Hamilton to call his first season with Ferrari a “nightmare.”
The poor result dropped Ferrari to fourth in the constructors’ standings. With three grands prix and a sprint remaining, the team sits 36 points behind Mercedes and four points behind Red Bull.
Speaking at an Olympics sponsorship event in Rome, Elkann praised the mechanics and engineers but warned that other areas of the outfit “are not up to scratch.” He added that drivers must refocus: “We definitely have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less because we still have important races ahead of us and getting second place is not impossible.” Elkann also pointed to recent success elsewhere in the Ferrari stable — “In Bahrain, we won the World Endurance Championship title” — and stressed that unity produces results.
The comments underline growing frustration at a team that came close to the constructors’ crown last year but has not won a grand prix this season. Team sources say Elkann’s remarks are intended to be constructive and to spur improvement.
McLaren, which finished just 14 points behind Ferrari last year, has already secured this season’s constructors’ title with six races to spare. The championship order carries significant financial implications: each place gained near the top is worth roughly $10m (£7.6m) in prize money compared with the next position.
Leclerc described São Paulo as “a very difficult” weekend on social media, calling it “disappointing to come back home with nearly no points at all for the team in what is a critical moment of the season to fight for the second place in the constructors’ championship.” He added that it will be “uphill from now” and insisted that “only unity can help us turn that situation around in the last three races.”
Ferrari managed only six points over the weekend, coming from Leclerc and Hamilton finishing fifth and seventh respectively in the sprint. Hamilton has won a sprint race this year in China but is yet to stand on a grand prix podium for Ferrari. Leclerc, who had qualified third in São Paulo, was taken out of the race in a collision involving Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli after the incident with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Leclerc has seven podiums this season, his best results being second places in Monaco and Mexico.
With the season winding down, Ferrari faces a compact run of events to try to salvage second in the constructors’ standings and restore momentum before the new year.
