Nervous drivers and a failed engine: no peace at Ferrari this season

Podium-less since July, discontent is growing at the Italian team, while Christian Horner’s words have raised questions. John Elkann had promised the title by 2026.

No, Christian Horner is not Ferrari’s problem. It is the repetition of a story that keeps troubling the waters at Maranello and seems to get worse from weekend to weekend. The much-anticipated home race, with the new engine seen as the season’s salvation, did not deliver the hoped-for results. And so, the list of podium-less races for a team targeting the title keeps getting longer.

Since the Spa race in July, Ferrari has not stood on the podium. In Baku the Italian team managed 4th with Charles Leclerc and 6th with Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull looks more solid with 5 podiums in the last 6 races. Not to mention Mercedes, flying alone at the top of a season as the dominant force and no longer counting Ferrari as a dangerous rival.

Such a picture is more than a little worrying at Maranello; this year’s power unit project turned out to be a failure. The engine is not the only element troubling the waters at Ferrari. And when several elements don’t work, rumors of changes at the top grow.

The first actor in the complex situation is Lewis Hamilton, who has long spoken of needed changes and pay rules among drivers. He has publicly asked the team for clarifications. Hamilton, after an anonymous race in Baku, answered journalists in monosyllables, including on the Horner-Vasseur topic.

It was the “Horner” chapter that opened a new phase in Ferrari’s complex situation. The former Red Bull boss gave an interview to the Times, which within hours became the main topic of discussion in Baku.

“There is only one team in Formula 1 where I would agree to go without share quotas. Ferrari is the most important brand in our sport, it is a dream,” Horner said, throwing his hat in the ring – though for now it remains just an idea for Ferrari. It is now also a personal matter for president Elkann, who had promised the title by 2026. A promise that still looks like an impossible dream.