Bernie Ecclestone has a theory on Ferrari's 2018 struggles

Bernie Ecclestone believes Ferrari are "too Italian" to succeed in Formula 1, predicting that the Scuderia could be set for a fruitless stretch. Sebastian Vettel has suffered late-season slumps in 2017 and this season, allowing Lewis Hamilton to win the title last year and move towards a fifth in 2018.

The Scuderia have not won a drivers' title since Kimi Raikkonen's 2007 triumph and were last constructors' champions in 2008 – the year that Felipe Massa missed out on the individual crown to Hamilton on the last lap of the season.

Ferrari have generally had the quickest car throughout 2018, but on-track errors and strategy blunders have eft Vettel trailing Hamilton by more than a race win's worth of points with only a handful of races remaining.

Ecclestone believes a move away from the structure that inspired their early 2000s dominance is to blame.

"It's too Italian. I said to somebody the other day it's back to the old days," Ecclestone told ESPN, in reference to Ferrari's barren period in the 1980s and 90s before the arrivals of Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher.

"We got Todt to go there and look after things a little bit, so it wasn't Italian too much, and Michael was running the team. So it was all a bit different. I think they're missing that sort of a set-up now.

"Ferrari have got a completely different way of going on to Mercedes, haven't they?

"Mercedes has got a team that's pure, all they do is racing, it's nothing to do with the manufacturer.

"Ferrari is looking after their car production side of things, gearing that more or less to their Formula 1 performances. So it's run in a different way."

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