Fred Vasseur now ‘blaming’ one departed Ferrari chief for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s issues

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur won’t have enjoyed how qualifying played out at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

For the first time in Ferrari’s history, neither of their drivers started in the top 10 at Imola.

Lewis Hamilton drove brilliantly to finish fourth on Sunday, with Charles Leclerc cutting a more frustrated figure after coming home in P6.

Both drivers weren’t happy with their one-lap pace at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, although this has been a consistent issue throughout the 2025 season.

Hamilton and Leclerc currently sit fifth and seventh in the average qualifying position rankings this season, taking Sprint qualifying into account as well.

The seven-time world champion is behind Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in those standings, highlighting how difficult Ferrari have found it to extract pace out of the SF-25 over one lap.

Ferrari appear to have issues getting the most out of new tyres which might explain why they appear to look their most competitive halfway through a race.

Fred Vasseur and his technical team at Maranello are desperately searching for a solution as to why they’ve slipped so far down the pecking order since last season.

It appears as though one figure who was pivotal in the design of last year’s car but has since moved on is now taking some of the flak for Ferrari’s struggles.

READ MORE: Who is Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur? Everything you need to know

Fred Vasseur ‘blaming’ Enrico Cardile for Ferrari’s 2025 F1 struggles

A report from the Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport has shared more details about what’s going on behind the scenes at Ferrari.

They believe that Vasseur’s statements to the press are ‘not convincing’ many that they fully understand what’s going wrong with the car.

On top of this, they suggest that Vasseur was ‘busy blaming’ Ferrari’s former technical director Enrico Cardile for the mess the team are in this year.

Cardile joined Ferrari’s F1 team in 2016 having worked on their GT car project for more than a decade.

He was chief of the aerodynamics department up until last season before being signed by Aston Martin as their chief technical officer.

Ferrari blocked Cardile from starting work at Aston Martin until July this year, as he joins the likes of Andy Cowell and Adrian Newey as part of Lawrence Stroll’s project.

However, the report from CdS questions how Cardile is to blame for what’s happening this season, considering he was part of the team that helped Ferrari improve so much during the second half of last year.

READ MORE: Aston Martin told they’ve done something ‘absolutely stupid’ with their F1 car this season

Will Enrico Cardile be a success at Aston Martin alongside Adrian Newey?

Cardile will be under pressure to immediately hit the ground running once he can finally start work at Aston Martin in the summer.

Newey is said to only be working on Aston Martin’s 2026 car with the regulations changing over the winter break.

However, it’s been suggested that Newey may have had conversations about this year’s Aston Martin after they delivered an impressive update to Imola.

Aston Martin have one of the most impressive groups of backroom staff of any F1 team, with Andy Cowell previously of interest to almost every team in the paddock before joining the Silverstone-based team.

There are question marks over whether Newey and Cardile can work in harmony based on their differing views on aerodynamics.

However, Ferrari trying to pin this season’s woes on the technical chief are unlikely to go down well with Vasseur’s bosses if they don’t find a way to improve quickly.