Luca di Montezemolo has brutally criticised Ferrari whilst stating that Lewis Hamilton will fail in his goal of winning a Formula 1 World Championship with the team.
The Briton joined the Scuderia after 12 seasons with Mercedes, in which he won six of his seven F1 titles, aiming to take the elusive eighth title that has eluded him since the Abu Dhabi 2021 finale.
However, despite his first victory for Ferrari in the Sprint race in China, Hamilton has endured a difficult start to his journey with the Prancing Horse.
A 10th-place finish on his debut was followed by disqualification at the Shanghai International Circuit after finishing sixth on track.
Hamilton claimed his best result on a Sunday for Ferrari in Bahrain, after crossing the line in fifth place, but the last race weekend in Jeddah did not yield a positive result.
Finishing the race in seventh, the 40-year-old expressed how he was anticipating a ‘painful’ debut campaign with the team after a ‘horrible’ race in Saudi Arabia.
Whilst results have been better on the other side of the garage, as Charles Leclerc took the team’s first podium of the season, results haven’t quite been what Ferrari would have hoped for at the start of the year.
The Italian businessman, di Montezemolo, was in attendance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and he delivered a scathing verdict on his former team.
“The team has been lacking leadership for years,” he told Brick.
“Yes, the soul is missing.
“In the past, people worked day and night, but in the past the company stood for passion.
“And now you’re chasing success almost haphazardly!”
Whilst he was hesitant to single out the seven-time World Champion, the 77-year-old declared: “His dream of winning the World Championship title at Ferrari will not come true!”
Hamilton ‘can’t blame the car’
Hamilton has not finished ahead of team-mate Leclerc on a Sunday this season. Leclerc, who has been with Ferrari since 2019, has not been hindered as much by the problems Hamilton has had in the opening rounds, allowing the Monegasque racing driver to outperform his racing colleague.
After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton was once again left dispirited whilst talking to the media.
“Well, clearly the car is capable of being P3, so Charles did a great job today, so I can’t blame the car,” he told Sky Sports F1.
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur offered a different explanation on the situation when asked if there was one area that Hamilton was struggling with.
“No, perhaps it’s the confidence with the car, perhaps a little bit with himself, also that everything is new,” he said.
Whatever the problem is, it doesn’t seem like it is going away anytime soon, as Hamilton expects another painful race at the upcoming race in Miami.
Since the first Miami Grand Prix in 2022, Hamilton has finished sixth in the race each time, which does not bode well for the Ferrari driver next weekend.
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