'This cannot be real' - F1 reacts to the civil war at Ferrari

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton look really far from impressed at Ferrari chairman John Elkann — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

'This cannot be real' - F1 reacts to the civil war at Ferrari

F1 fans have reacted to Elkann's comments

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 11 November 2025 17:01 Updated: 19:46

The fallout from Ferrari chairman John Elkann's takedown of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc was equally brutal this Tuesday morning as fans and analysts alike wake up to his incredible comments.

The 49-year-old Elkann claimed on Monday that his superstar drivers need to 'talk less' and focus more on their driving, with the team languishing in fourth in the constructors' championship. A massive 394 points behind leaders McLaren.

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The Brazilian GP weekend was the latest flop for the underperforming Scuderia, with the team only managing to score six points from the two races, when there was a whopping 58 on offer.

Ferrari do still have a chance of finishing second in the constructors' championship, with 36 points separating them and Mercedes with three race weekends to go, and Elkann tried to point to the Ferrari World Endurance Championship (WEC) team with his statement, after they enjoyed title success for the first time since 1972 last weekend.

But many social media fans have been left less than impressed with Elkann, with one user saying: "Absolutely insane what’s going on at Ferrari… The chairman decides that now is the time to start complaining about the DRIVERS?? Now the drivers are defending themselves on social media???? This team cannot be real."

Another commented: "They've had just about every driver rotate out for the last 15 years, maybe it's Ferrari leadership," while another said: "I feel bad for Charles, he’s given them so much patience and the slightest of criticisms gets that reaction. I'm not surprised if he moves elsewhere now. Also of the 3 champs on the grid Lewis is the calmest one in these situations, Max and Fernando would absolutely trash them."

However, one user suggested that Elkann's tone may be the right way to go if Ferrari are to win championships in the future: "It is about time Elkann steps in and talks and behaves like Enzo Ferrari himself. This is long overdue. Only Toto or Horner have the ruthless dictator traits to succeed at a place like Ferrari and why the 2 dominated the last 20 years."

What did Elkann say about Lewis Hamilton?

Elkann's full comments to Italian media surrounding Hamilton and Leclerc were as follows: "Brazil was a huge disappointment. If we look at the Formula 1 championship, we can say that our mechanics are winning the championship with their performance and everything they've done on the pit stops. If we look at our engineers, there's no doubt that the car has improved.

"If we look at the rest, it's not up to par. And we certainly have drivers who it's important that they focus on driving and talk less, because we still have important races ahead of us and it's not impossible to get second place.

"In Bahrain, we won the WEC title. When Ferrari is united, you get results."

Ferrari's miserable 2025 season

21 race weekends into the season, and neither Leclerc nor Hamilton have been able to seriously challenge for a grand prix victory.

Hamilton did win one race, a sprint race, but he has not even got onto the podium in a grand prix as of yet with his new team.

They're sat fifth and sixth in the drivers' championship, and have not been able to get anywhere near to winning Ferrari their first world championship of any kind since 2008, despite the team finishing just 11 points behind champions McLaren in 2024.

Despite all of this, team principal Fred Vasseur has recently been handed a new contract, and Ferrari have real hope that they're going to be able to make a jump on their competitors in 2026, when new regulations sweep into the sport.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc John Elkann