Formula 1: Articles & News Reports.

[Fortitude]

Lewis Hamilton is now learning why Fernando Alonso didn’t think Ferrari could win a world championship.
Fernando Alonso left Ferrari just over 10 years ago because he didn’t feel the team was in a position to win.
13 Nov 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Ted Kravitz says Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari problems aren’t new. In a seismic interview this week, Ferrari chairman John Elkann told his drivers to ‘talk less’ outside the car. It was then reported that Hamilton’s feedback documents had sparked ‘resentment’ in some quarters of the team. The 40-year-old publicly revealed that he’d been reviewing Ferrari’s failings. Kravitz fears that a series of great drivers have identified the same fundamental problems, but met firm resistance. That’s why, as Alonso feared, they’re not functioning as well as their rivals.

“If Lewis is writing all these documents, a kind of winning blueprint, as to what it takes to be a top-line team, then how many times do Ferrari need to hear this, and why are they not listening to it?” he asked on the F1 Show. “When you go back to Fernando Alonso, who left Ferrari because he said that he didn’t see a team that could win consistently. That was 2014. Fernando left because he said, ‘I’ve seen what it takes to be a Red Bull or a Mercedes, and that’s not what I see at Ferrari at the moment’.”

‘Hamilton’s feedback documents had sparked resentment’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/lew...-championship/


Have Lewis Hamilton’s improvement documents offended Ferrari?
It has been suggested that Lewis Hamilton may have inadvertently insulted Ferrari.
13 Nov 2025
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

Ted Kravitz wonders whether Lewis Hamilton has “insulted” Ferrari with his documents suggesting the improvements the team needs to fight for F1 world championships. Kravitz has suggested that Hamilton’s “winning blueprint” may not have been well received by all at Maranello.

“Fred’s not stupid, Fred’s a great team principal and I can’t think of anyone better who would do that. I don’t know whether Fred’s completely empowered to do what he wants,” Kravitz told The F1 Show. “Let’s think about the Hamilton documents that he’s been drawing up, the sort of blueprint from what he’s learnt at McLaren and 12 years at Mercedes and so many world championships.”

“Are Ferrari insulated by those documents? Did they think ‘well thank you very much but you just drive the car’. If Lewis is writing all of these documents, a kind of winning blueprint about what it takes to be a top line team, how many times do Ferrari need to hear this and why are they not listening to it?”

‘The Hamilton documents’;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/108647...errari-f1-team


Some Ferrari staff ‘resented’ what Lewis Hamilton said about the team after joining from Mercedes
12 Nov 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Lewis Hamilton is trying to break the cycle at Ferrari. Since the team last won the drivers’ title, they have signed four world champions but watched their drought continue. Fernando Alonso came agonisingly close to the championship in 2010 and 2012, but left empty-handed in 2014. Sebastian Vettel, his replacement, couldn’t sustain a season-long challenge to Hamilton and Mercedes, and Kimi Raikkonen wasn’t the same driver in his second stint at Maranello. Hamilton says Ferrari have had ‘amazing’ drivers but need to ‘challenge’ themselves if they’re to win again. He ‘refuses’ to follow the same path as Vettel and co.

Hamilton sent documents of feedback to Ferrari in the months after he joined from Mercedes, where he’d won six titles over a 12-year dynasty. According to ESPN, this effectively amounted to an ‘audit’ of their methods. He had taken ‘extensive notes’ on their operation and made recommendations on where they could improve. ‘Sources’ close to the team say these were ‘welcomed in some quarters’. However, others apparently ‘resented his input’. They were ‘dismissive’ of his feedback, which doesn’t bode well for 2026.

‘Resented his input’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/som...from-mercedes/


Spiraling Ferrari unfairly points finger at Hamilton, Leclerc
Nov 11, 2025
Nate Saunders
ESPN.co.uk

Ferrari chairman John Elkann's decision to throw his drivers under the bus on Monday was a microcosm of everything that has haunted the company's storied Formula 1 team during its 17-year title drought. A Ferrari spokesperson told ESPN the comments were meant to be "constructive" and the chairman's way of spurring everyone on. To anyone outside the team bubble, that's a fairly charitable interpretation of what Elkann said publicly.

It was a statement that smacked of either insecurity or arrogance (or a horrible combination of both) from a man leading a company that has not won an F1 drivers' championship since 2007 or a constructors' championship since 2008. His words revealed the same misguided interference from above that plagued the outfit before and after the glory days of Michael Schumacher.

Elkann's statements have raised further questions. Should either driver vent about the car in future, are they openly defying Elkann and destroying attempts at unity behind the scenes? Is the team's current situation acceptable for Ferrari? And, more broadly speaking, does Elkann actually understand the differences in building a successful Formula 1 program and a WEC outfit?

‘John Elkann's decision to throw his drivers under the bus’;

https://www.espn.co.uk/racing/f1/sto...harles-leclerc


John Elkann told to focus on the ‘real issue’ at Ferrari by McLaren insider after blaming his drivers
13 Nov 2025
Ashley Hambly
F1 Oversteer

Tony Kanaan is a close confidante of former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello, with the pair of drivers once using each other’s helmets during the most prestigious events of their respective categories in 2006. Asked for his opinion on Elkann’s comments about their current driver line-up, the Brazilian said, “Ferrari is always going to be Ferrari; you’re never going to be bigger than Ferrari. Look at [Fernando] Alonso, [Sebastian] Vettel, and Rubens [Barrichello].

“I mean, I lived that with Rubens. It’s such a… The culture there, it’s Ferrari. They’re going to protect it, and you’re never going to be bigger than them. So no matter what, people are going to tell you what to do. The respect needs to be more of you towards Ferrari than actually Ferrari towards you. Unless you’re Michael Schumacher. That’s what’s happening there. The drivers are getting frustrated because they need to be vocal about it.”

“These people don’t want to talk about it because that’s not what they do. Then obviously, it takes a toll on the drivers and all of a sudden then the guy comes out of Brazil with, ‘They should talk less because they will do better.’ That tells you how little the guy has of an awareness of what the real issue is.”

“Ferrari is always going to be Ferrari”;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/joh...g-his-drivers/


Ferrari advised to listen to Hamilton to turn things around
13 Nov 2025
Kada Sarkozi
GPblog.com

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Lewis Hamilton could be 'unstoppable' with Ferrari once the Italian team listens to the seven-time world champion. According to former F1 driver Montoya, the seven-time world champion will not give up: “I think Lewis Hamilton has a point to prove, he won’t lie down and submit to defeat. He will win the championship or die trying, as they say. He will give it a big push next year. His frustration is due to him thinking he’s doing more than what Ferrari are doing for him."

He continued: “He feels he’s putting in a lot of effort to try make things work, but the team aren’t matching that energy. Give Hamilton the right tools and he’ll be there competing at the top. When things click and the motivation to compete is back, oh my god, Hamilton will be unstoppable.” He concluded: "The car isn’t getting better for Charles Leclerc either. The faster Ferrari’s team and engineers listen to Hamilton on how to make the car better, the better it will be for the team in the long term."

“Give Hamilton the right tools”;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/ferra...-things-around


Ferrari must listen to what Lewis Hamilton told Niki Lauda during his toughest season at McLaren
14 Nov 2025
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

Lewis Hamilton’s conversation with Niki Lauda should guide Ferrari on how to make their F1 comeback. Hamilton continued: “Then, when people start questioning how good you are, and people say, oh, this person must be better, it’s frustrating that you can’t react and fix it by going faster because you don’t have the car. “That great thing for me was knowing that my team weren’t going to give up. If they’ve given up, then why are we racing?”

“I want to be a part of a team that always pushes, because for me, when I’m driving a car, whether it’s good or bad, I’m always pushing, So, I want the team to have the same mentality. And for sure, if I were with a team that didn’t have that mentality, then I’d be in the wrong place. Each weekend when they feel negative, I try to pull them up and hey, we can do it.”

‘Ferrari must listen’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/features...on-at-mclaren/

[Fortitude]

Ferrari’s ‘burning’ regret from the Adrian Newey deal that never happened.
Ferrari still licking their ‘wound’ after Adrian Newey turned them down in 2024.
Kieran Smith
msn.com

Ferrari were heavily tipped to sign Adrian Newey after his resignation from Red Bull, with Fred Vasseur closing in on what many thought could be an all-star team. But after four months of speculation following his May resignation, Newey joined Aston Martin instead last September. Lawrence Stroll lured him to his ambitious project with the stakeholding role of managing technical partner.

The report notes that the ‘wound’ of Newey’s rejection ‘still seems to be burning’ for Ferrari. They would be far more optimistic about next year if he was on board. Newey seemed ‘very close’ to joining the Italian marquee but walked away from the negotiations when Aston Martin made a more favourable offer. Ferrari will still be wondering how exactly they let one of the highest-rated engineers in the sport slip through their fingers.

‘Ferrari’s ‘burning’ regret’;

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/moto...ed/ar-AA1GAqkQ


REAL REASON FERRARI REJECTED NEWEY
August 15, 2024
The Judge

Ferrari’s failed pursuit of Adrian Newey: Was technical control the deciding factor? In what could be considered one of the most significant missed opportunities in recent Formula One history, Ferrari’s pursuit of Adrian Newey – widely regarded as one of the most brilliant design minds in the sport – has ended in disappointment.

The real reason behind Ferrari’s refusal: Newey’s demand: While Ferrari were undoubtedly keen to secure Newey’s services, it seems that the British designer’s demands were simply too much for the team. According to former F1 driver Robert Doornbos, Newey not only demanded a salary double that of his Red Bull salary, but also wanted “more control over the technical staff”. This demand for greater authority, which included bringing in a large number of his own engineers, may have been the main reason why Ferrari eventually pulled out of the deal.

Ferrari’s engineering department is one of the most storied and established in the sport, with a rich history of success and a deeply rooted culture. The prospect of integrating a large group of Newey’s preferred engineers – potentially up to 20 additional staff – would have meant a significant disruption to this existing structure. Such a move could have been seen as destabilising, particularly in a team where continuity and tradition are highly valued. Engineering control: The elephant in the room for Ferrari. The potential for disruption posed by Newey’s demands is likely to have played a significant role in Ferrari’s decision to walk away from the negotiations.

‘Demand for greater authority’;

https://thejudge13.com/2024/08/15/re...ejected-newey/


Ferrari Civil War: Steiner Torches Elkann Over Driver Jab
November 14, 2025
Alex Albuquerque
FastestLap.com

Guenther Steiner calls out Elkann over public jab at Hamilton and Leclerc: “That’s not leadership” Ferrari needed a pressure valve after São Paulo. John Elkann chose a megaphone. The Ferrari president’s broadside at his own drivers — urging Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to “talk less” after the team slumped again — has landed about as well as a cross-threaded wheel nut. And Guenther Steiner, never short of an opinion, thinks the boss crossed a line.

Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, the former Haas team principal said Elkann’s public dressing-down of his star pairing was the wrong message, in the wrong forum. “He’s the boss, he can critique,” Steiner said. “But not in public. It doesn’t show good leadership to say ‘mechanics are great, engineers are great, but the drivers are not’ in front of the world.”

Ferrari’s season, once talked up as a title bid, has shrunk into a scrap to salvage the top end of the Constructors’ table, with the team sitting fourth and the races running out. Brazil was the latest bruise: a double DNF and a long flight home with more questions than answers. Elkann’s reaction was pointed. He praised pit crews and engineers — “always first” in their execution, he said — then jabbed at the rest. Drivers, he added, should “focus on driving, talk less,” and keep sight of the target: second in the championship still on the table.

‘John Elkann chose a megaphone’;

https://fastestlap.com/news/ferrari-...er-driver-jab/


Civil war is the last thing Ferrari needs
In the post-São Paulo Grand Prix edition of The Scoop, I delve into Ferrari chairman John Elkann's comment in the aftermath of a miserable trip to Brazil for the Scuderia and why it is the last thing the Scuderia needs.
13 November 2025
Samuel Coop
RacingNews365

Italian team's chairman, John Elkann, went on the offensive, openly criticising the British driver and team-mate Charles Leclerc. Seemingly aggrieved by the pair being perhaps too honest with the media one too many times, and in the wake of a painful, double-DNF São Paulo Grand Prix, he aired his personal feelings.

Hamilton had claimed he was living in a "nightmare" and that slumping to fourth in the constructors' championship standings is a "disaster" and a "disappointment for everyone in the team". With just three rounds to run, Ferrari now finds itself 36 points adrift of Mercedes in the runner-up spot it secured last year, and four points off Red Bull in third.

Leclerc, meanwhile, labelled the development "frustrating" and argued the rest of the campaign needed to be "perfectly executed" to stand any chance of fighting for second place. Evidently, Elkann felt he had seen and heard enough, taking matters into his own hands, calling on the pair to "talk less" whilst talking up every other aspect of the team.

‘Why it is the last thing the Scuderia needs’;

https://racingnews365.com/civil-war-...-ferrari-needs


Italian media erupts after Elkann blasts drivers
NOVEMBER 12, 2025
GrandPrix.com

Ferrari president John Elkann's extraordinary public rebuke of his Formula 1 drivers continues to dominate headlines in Italy, dividing opinion across the country's major sports newspapers.

Writing in Corriere della Sera, Daniele Sparisci said the presidential outburst was addressed specifically to Lewis. Some of Charles's comments could have been irritating”, he noted, "but the message was for Hamilton. The honeymoon is over.”

Luigi Perna in La Gazzetta dello Sport shifted the focus from the drivers to the team's broader failings. “They're the only top team not to have won a single race this season”, Perna wrote. "In fact, their last victory was the 2024 Mexican GP with Carlos Sainz - the very driver management dismissed to make way for Hamilton. Ferrari has now gone 25 races without a win, the sixth-worst drought in its history.”

‘Extraordinary public rebuke’;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/itali...s-drivers.html


Ferrari receives ‘beatings will continue until morale improves’ advice after Elkann statement
13 Nov 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

After Ferrari president John Elkann’s criticism echoed across the motorsport world, former Aston Martin and McLaren figure Bernie Collins has been left asking: “what has that gained for Ferrari?” “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”

“There used to be a saying when you were in the garage: ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves.’ And that’s a bit the situation, isn’t it? What has that gained Ferrari? Not a lot.”

“Charles Leclerc and Lewis have not been there that long, either of those,” she stated. “So there’s something else, fundamentally, when you look at the investment Ferrari put in and what they’re getting out in terms of championship points, as a team, as a constructor.”

‘After Ferrari president John Elkann’s criticism echoed’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/bernie...ferrari-advice


Ferrari ‘sources’ shared the truth about the team’s problems before John Elkann blamed the drivers
14 November 2025
Ashley Hambly
F1 Oversteer

Ferrari have been open regarding their struggles with the SF-25 before John Elkann’s damning verdict. Elkann was certain, in his comments, that the drivers were the root cause of Ferrari’s issues, as he highlighted that the hard work of engineers in Maranello was satisfactory, and the car wasn’t the issue.

The ride height issue has plagued the Prancing Horse throughout their efforts in 2025, which was the reason for their disqualifications in China and hindered a potential win for Leclerc in Hungary. In an attempt to fix this issue, Ferrari ignored the wishes of Hamilton and Leclerc, who felt like the car would have benefited more from some aero updates that were made redundant by the new suspension.

As it turned out, the suspension upgrade proved to throw even more spanners in the works, as it made the car less sensitive to setup changes. This means that their star drivers are now unable to tweak setups on race weekends to their individual needs.

‘Elkann was certain, in his comments, that the drivers were the root cause of Ferrari’s issues’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fer...d-the-drivers/