The Scuderia was dying, long before the 17-year drought.
Oh, not the Ferrari that makes expensive cars that everyone lusts after, but few attain; not the Ferrari that sells luxury clothes, that has theme parks or a restaurant; not the Ferrari brand, the prancing horse that has become one of the foremost symbols of luxury and exclusivity.
We’re witnessing the death of Enzo Ferrari’s vision: to form an excellent racing team that always wins. He only started making road cars to fund his racing, and he has succeeded more than his wildest dreams. The brand that is Ferrari has funded the Scuderia through the highs and lows, even if there were more lows than highs.
Why the Ferrari name has stood the test of time is also the main reason its initial purpose is dying. Scuderia Ferrari is as old as Formula 1 itself, and is synonymous with the sport. It has seen a lot of changes in all aspects of motorsport, but the system remained stagnant. Why?
Ostriches and Their Heads
At an event, Ferrari president John Elkann has censured Scuderia Ferrari HP’s drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, saying they need to focus more and talk less. This is more evidence cementing the widespread belief that the Scuderia’s main issue is the leadership’s focus on politics, and their inability to take criticism and accountability.
Longtime Ferrari member Gino Rosato has said on the podcast Pitstop that “Maranello is not an easy place to work.”
He adds, “I have also worked at Lotus, and in a British team the balance between actual work and internal politics is usually about 70% to 30%. But at Ferrari, it can be the opposite — sometimes politics takes up as much as 60% of everything that goes on.”
This is most evident in how quick Team Principals have come and gone. Since Jean Todt’s departure in 2007, five men have led the Scuderia: Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiacci, Maurizio Arrivabene and Mattia Binotto. They all tried to bring change and lead the Scuderia to success – and some of them came close – but still, they were dismissed.
After all, it’s difficult to win when you change leaders every three years. Having a stable foundation so that the team can progress in all aspects is neglected for power plays and scapegoating. They seem to be more focused on trying to prove that they know best despite the evidence to the contrary.
This has also fostered an almost dysfunctional environment that doesn’t accept constructive criticism from anyone. Simple opinions can be construed as dissent and cause punishment. What’s the point of hiring the best of the best when you only want to become yes men?
And who, exactly, does this benefit? Nobody, not even the people behind the politicking, and especially the ones working hard on track, from the drivers to the mechanics.
Current team principal Fred Vasseur is trying his best amidst the pressure coming from all sides, especially, it seems, from Ferrari’s upper management. Vasseur has also alluded to this in an interview during the 2025 Canada Grand Prix.
“We need to ask ourselves the right questions if Ferrari hasn’t won for years. We’ve changed the principals, drivers, we’ve changed everything… except one thing,” he said.
There’s one thing for sure: Vasseur has his work cut out for him.
Legacy? What Legacy?
Something definitely needs to change, but it’s a question of when Ferrari will fully accept that. Outsiders like us can point out the flaws in their system all we want, but that doesn’t matter if they’re burying their heads in the sand, and sacking everyone who wants an overhaul. Like Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results;” and the moment they decide that they can continue this insanity is the moment the Scuderia, as we know it, will die. The prestigious history they’re bragging about will fade into obscurity.
The legacy they cherish will mean nothing.
Because, in the near future, not a lot of people will care if they’re the oldest active team or they won the most WDCs and WCCs. They will only see a team bumbling and stumbling about, making rookie mistakes every race weekend. Some of them might only watch out for Ferrari for the memes those mistakes will clearly generate.
We saw how legacy did nothing for Williams Racing when they made their descent into a backmarker team. And when you think about it, the Scuderia could very well have the same fate.
If Enzo Ferrari relied on sponsorships for racing and had not built the behemoth we all know today, the Scuderia might be languishing beside Williams Racing in the standings.
Saturn
After the tragic 1957 Mille Miglia, Vatican City’s daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, wrote of Enzo, “Ferrari is like the Roman god Saturn, devouring his own children.”
While Enzo has been gone for almost 40 years now, this description fits the Scuderia he built to this day, with how many successful and promising drivers the Scuderia has eaten alive and spat out, found wanting, and “should focus more on driving and talk less.”
All I can wonder now is how long it will be before they run out of sons to devour. How long it will be before the Scuderia finally breathes its last.
But I don’t know, this could be just me catastrophising. We are checking. The Scuderia is certainly welcome to prove me, and everyone with similar opinions, wrong.
Written by Jo.
Edited by Alexandra.
Featured image credit: REUTERS via bbc.com
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