According to Nico Rosberg, Ferrari is considering moving away from operating its Formula 1 team solely out of Italy.

And the rumour is, so says Rosberg, that Ferrari are looking into the idea of setting up a UK base, though he quickly raised a question mark over how effectively UK and Italian Ferrari arms would be able to communicate.

Ferrari to set up a UK operation?

After pushing McLaren to an Abu Dhabi Constructors’ title-decider last season, Ferrari were hoping to press on in F1 2025 and challenge once more for their first championship since 2008, the acquisition of seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes seen as a further boost.

But, Ferrari’s title drought already looks destined to continue, with the gap to runaway leaders McLaren 191 points after 10 rounds, while Charles Leclerc – the highest-ranked Ferrari racer in the Drivers’ standings – is 94 points off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in top spot.

Ferrari’s situation sparked speculation over the future of team principal Fred Vasseur in the Italian media ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, reports heavily criticised by the Frenchman, but Rosberg has heard of a different major change under consideration at Ferrari.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ The F1 Show, Rosberg claimed Ferrari are contemplating becoming the latest Formula 1 team with a base in the United Kingdom, as he compared Ferrari with his former team Mercedes – based in Brackley for their chassis and Brixworth for engines – Rosberg claiming Ferrari fall below Mercedes’ level of operational “excellence”.

Such a development could prove a major boost for Hamilton, with Rosberg suggesting that it is not clear for his former team-mate who he should turn to at Ferrari, compared to when he was at Mercedes with Toto Wolff in charge as principal and one-third team owner.

Currently Ferrari and Sauber (to become Audi from F1 2026), are the only F1 teams without a UK presence.

“So I’ve seen a little bit of inner workings there at Ferrari, and you can see that the level of excellence that they’re at is not comparable to the British teams, and especially to someone like Mercedes, in many areas, whether it goes from marketing, to other areas,” said Rosberg.

“So you can just see there, the whole culture, the fact that they’re in Italy, it makes it a lot more difficult to them.

“For example, at Mercedes, whenever Lewis had a thing, he would just go to Toto, and Toto would be able to make the decision, call the shot immediately, done.

“Whereas at Ferrari, there’s so many different decision-makers, and even Lewis doesn’t really know, ‘Okay, if I ask him, and he says yes and he does it, and the other guy still complains afterwards.’ It’s all a bit difficult there.

“There’s a couple of ideas that I heard going round. I think Ferrari has been exploring to perhaps open a kind of subsidiary in the UK, because that’s where the F1 ecosystem is. So I’ve heard rumours that they’re also thinking about opening a subsidiary there.”

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But, even if Ferrari did go down that route, Rosberg questioned whether this could open another can of worms for the team to deal with.

“The problem then is just getting the communication right,” he continued. “If you do have a Ferrari entity in the UK, that’s one thing, but it still needs to communicate awesomely with the headquarters, and then maybe that’s not possible to get the communication that good, that that actually makes sense.”

Others, however, have overcome that hurdle.

Haas operates its race team out of Banbury in the UK with its technical office within Ferrari’s Maranello campus in Italy.

Racing Bulls also has a technical presence in the UK in conjunction with its main facility in Faenza, near the Imola circuit in the Emilia Romagna region.

However, it would mark a significant departure for Ferrari, which has traditionally centered itself in Italy save individual employees working remotely.

Leclerc has scored all three of Ferrari’s podiums so far this season as their wait for a Grand Prix win goes on in F1 2025, Hamilton having provided the only form of race win thus far by taking the chequered flag in the China Sprint.

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