Former Ferrari chairman criticises team amid 2025 F1 struggles: “Lacks leadership”

Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has hit out at the Maranello outfit amid it’s tricky start to the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Ferrari has had a challenging start these first four race weekends. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who is still adjusting to the team following a 12-year stint with Mercedes, secured a victory at the Chinese sprint. Despite this hint of success, this has been the only top-three finish for the team so far this year. 

On a positive note, Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc secured a place on the front row of the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix. While he qualified third fastest, a one-place grid penalty for George Russell saw the Monegasque take the spot alongside pole-sitter Oscar Piastri. Hamilton, on the other hand, will start the race from ninth. 

Montezemolo commented on the team’s current battles to Sky Italia, which Sky UK translated. He explained:

“This is a team that at certain times lacks a leader, lacks leadership in the broader sense.

“Anyway, I am happy that Leclerc starts from the second [now first] row but the race is a different story.”

The Fred Vasseur-led team introduced an upgrade package to the SF-25 in Bahrain, mainly focusing on a new floor. Both drivers have shared that they feel the new additions to the car are working, and things are hopefully heading in the right direction. Speaking to the media following qualifying, Leclerc explained:

“Honestly, I didn’t expect P3. I knew that in Q3 there was some lap time. I knew that in Q1 and Q2 I just had to be patient and wait for the track to come to us. 

“It was a bit tricky because at the beginning of Q3 everything felt really bad with the old tyres but then as soon as we put on the new tyres it was quite a bit better.

“I’m happy. I did not expect it but I think it’s a result of… we explored quite a lot of extreme setups in the last few weekends, and it feels like I’ve found my way a little bit. 

“And little by little, I hope there will be more performance to extract from the car in the weekends to come. 

“The team has pushed like crazy to bring those upgrades here. I don’t think it’s the best track to have upgrades on, but it’s always good. It’s a small gain, not a big one, but hopefully next week it should be a bit more of a step.

“If we are P3 today, especially considering such fine margins with P3, the upgrades helped.”