F1 champion Jenson Button reveals culture of fear at Ferrari

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari

F1 champion reveals culture of fear at Ferrari

Jenson Button won the 2009 world championship

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 14 October 2025 18:56

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2009 F1 champion Jenson Button has suggested that Ferrari's current struggles may be down to the culture of the team.

Ferrari are the most successful and iconic F1 team of all time, having claimed 31 championships across their illustrious history, but Button believes that it's that history that brings a certain pressure to succeed.

In 2025, Ferrari have only secured five podiums across 18 race weekends, and are currently sat down in third in the constructors' championship, only eight points ahead of Red Bull.

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That's despite the Maranello-based outfit only having finished 11 points from constructors' championship success in 2024, and adding the services of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to their ranks ahead of the 2025 season.

Hamilton hasn't even claimed a grand prix podium as of yet, and sits down in sixth in the drivers' championship, while his team-mate Charles Leclerc isn't doing too much better in fifth.

Now, Button has issued his thoughts on why the team and drivers are not meeting their targets in 2025, hinting at a culture of fear.

"You can’t be afraid to fail," he explained to Sky Sports F1 during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. "And that’s what it feels like at Ferrari. I think everyone feels it’s easy to be pushed out the door, and it’s not a nice feeling to have.

"You need to have consistency throughout the team. It gives everyone confidence, and the drivers' confidence. So I hope that’s not the case next year. I hope that they see out the whole year together, because there’s going to be so much change for the first race, but also the 24th race of next year.

"So much is going to change throughout the year. So it’s a great team, and I think it has really good leadership, and you don’t get a better driver line-up than that, no?"

Ferrari looking for resurgence

While 2025 has been bitterly disappointing, it's unlikely the team could have challenged for the championship this year anyway, with McLaren clearly the dominant team in the sport.

But 2026 offers the chance of a shake up of the competitive order of F1, with wholesale regulation changes sweeping into the sport. It could offer Ferrari the chance to make a jump on their rivals.

Team principal Fred Vasseur has been given a new contract despite the team's dismal form, with Ferrari bosses clearly looking towards 2026 and beyond as a chance to get back to championship-challenging ways.

Button added: "It’s not been the season that they would have hoped [for]. Obviously, Lewis going to Ferrari, was expecting great things in 2025, and you always think, as a driver, that you can make the difference. But in this sport, you’re up against the best.

"So, it’s not been the best, but it hasn’t been horrific either. They just haven’t been consistently fighting the McLarens, but no one has. The only other person that has really, on a few occasions, is one individual, Max Verstappen."

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