Maranello, the spiritual home of the Scuderia Ferrari, has always been a place synonymous with passion, speed, and the relentless pursuit of perfection. Yet, in the wake of the 2025 Formula 1 season’s latest disasters, this passion has curdled into raw, unbridled fury. The team, arguably the greatest in the sport’s history, is not merely struggling on the track; it has been plunged into a full-blown crisis of confidence and public relations, catalyzed by a single, seismic comment from the very top.

The man at the center of this firestorm is Ferrari Chairman John Elkann. In a recent appearance at an Olympic sponsorship event in Rome, Elkann delivered a public critique that was breathtaking in its severity and poor timing. While he offered a token commendation to the team’s mechanics and engineers, the rest of his statement was an undeniable indictment of the men behind the wheel, primarily Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The quote that instantly became the flashpoint, setting the entire Tifosi fan base alight, was devastatingly simple and utterly brutal: “We definitely have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less”.

The Hammer Blow and the Uprising of the Tifosi

To understand the magnitude of this statement, one must recognize the context. Ferrari had just endured a miserable run, punctuated by a disastrous double retirement in Brazil—the same result they suffered in the Netherlands. The team was already hurting, trying to manage expectations after a year that F1 commentators had labeled profoundly disappointing.

Elkann’s words, a direct and public slight against his two star drivers, Charles Leclerc and the newly signed Lewis Hamilton, cut deep. It was a massive psychological blow, particularly for two men who have consistently expressed their commitment to the team’s recovery, often finding themselves having to defend the systemic failures of the cars and strategy. As the video report notes, finding out about such severe criticism from the boss via social media would have been incredibly tough for both drivers.

The public response was immediate, overwhelming, and damning. When the team’s official Instagram account posted a celebration of its 20-year partnership with Puma, the comments section immediately became a digital protest square. Over 90% of the comments were not about the racing suits or the partnership, but about a single, unified demand: #ElkannOut.

The fans felt a profound betrayal. One commentator captured the mood, stating that Elkann has “absolutely destroyed the relationship and trust in this team”. The Tifosi, famed for their unwavering loyalty through thick and thin, have found their patience completely depleted. They are demanding accountability, and they are pointing their finger directly at the top. When the popular YouTube channel reporting on the story had their video editor check the comments, they realized the severity of the situation, noting that multiple preceding posts also featured the same hashtag. This is not a fleeting moment of frustration; it is a full-blown fan revolt against the leadership.

The Dream That Became a Nightmare

The irony of Ferrari’s 2025 season is the high-stakes optimism that preceded it. The team’s audacious and successful poaching of seven-time World Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton was seen as a “dream signing.” It was supposed to herald a new era of glory, bringing a new level of expertise, stability, and marketing prowess to Maranello. The Tifosi were ready for a “super season”.

The reality has been anything but.

Two races in, the dream was already “looking shaky”. The team suffered a double disqualification in China: Leclerc’s car was underweight due to excessive tire degradation, and Hamilton’s rearwood skid was found to be below the minimum thickness. This immediately cost the team 18 critical points and shattered morale.

Since then, it has been a series of average, forgettable results, compounded by the double DNFs. The true measure of the disaster, however, lies in the numbers surrounding Lewis Hamilton. Despite the astronomical fee Ferrari is paying for his expertise, experience, and development insight, he has failed to secure a single podium finish this year. The video report starkly points out: zero podiums.

Hamilton now holds a record he certainly never wanted: Most races without a podium as a Ferrari driver. The record previously stood at 18; Hamilton is now at 21, and there is a real possibility he may go the entire 24-race season without one. The visible pain and frustration captured in post-race images of the world champion are a testament to the fact that “This certainly wasn’t what he and we were expecting when he made the move”.

Hamilton himself articulated the emotional toll after a Sunday race, calling the experience a “nightmare,” describing the devastating flip “between the dream of driving for this amazing team and the nightmare of the results we’ve had”.

A System in Denial and the Internal War

The drivers are not the only ones pointing fingers. Ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya weighed in, claiming that Ferrari is simply “not listening to him”. This view suggests a deeper-seated problem within the organization, where a wealth of championship-winning experience is being ignored. Hamilton, the report suggests, “probably feels he’s working very hard to make things work but the team isn’t supporting him enough”. Listening to the frustration in Lewis’s onboard radio is awkward and highlights the chasm between the driver and the strategy calls.

The fact is, Ferrari’s woes are long-standing. The team has now gone 25 consecutive races without a win—the sixth-worst winless drought in its history. Their last Constructors’ Championship was in 2008, 17 years ago, and their last Drivers’ Champion was Kimi Räikkönen in 2007. This is a historical pattern of failure, not a sudden dip in form.

This perspective is echoed loudly by the fan base, as seen in a viral Reddit comment: “If a two-time, four-time and seven-time world champion can’t find success in your cars then maybe just maybe the problem is not the drivers”. The commenter concluded that “Ferrari has been in full denial for a decade and a half at this point”.

Even within the team’s hierarchy, subtle cracks have appeared. Team Principal Fred Vasseur previously spoke out about the problems during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. He posed a loaded question: If Ferrari hasn’t won for years, why change “the team principle, the drivers and just about everything except one thing?” Although Vasseur never clarified who or what the “one thing” was, many inside and outside the sport strongly believe it was a veiled reference to the chairman himself, John Elkann. The subsequent presidential outburst has only cemented the belief among Italian media that the “honeymoon is over” for Hamilton, and that the message was targeted to him, even if some of Leclerc’s comments “could have been irritating”.

The Road to Las Vegas

With the season winding down, and a full-scale turnaround deemed unlikely, the technical focus has already shifted to the 2026 car. For the remaining races of 2025, the goal has become mere damage limitation.

However, the spotlight is now firmly fixed on the next event: the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The media day preceding the race will be the first opportunity for both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to speak publicly following Elkann’s astonishing criticism. It is guaranteed that the team’s PR staff will be working overtime, ensuring both drivers “are all singing off the same song sheet”.

But no amount of polished communication can truly mask the raw tension now enveloping F1’s most famous team. This is more than a poor season; it is a breakdown of trust between the leadership, the drivers, and the passionately loyal Tifosi. The question that hangs heavy in the air, echoing across the garages and the globe, is ominous: Can Ferrari recover from this self-inflicted PR catastrophe, or will the 2025 season go down as one of the worst, not just on the track, but in the history of the legendary Scuderia?