‘Talk less, drive more’: Elkann’s pointed message as Ferrari reels from Brazil
Ferrari president John Elkann has fired a sharp reminder at Maranello’s biggest stars after a bruising São Paulo weekend, urging Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to “focus on driving” and “talk less” as the Scuderia’s season wobbled again.
Speaking at an event in Milan days after Ferrari’s third double non-finish of the year, Elkann praised the pit crew and engineering effort but questioned the cohesion that’s supposed to weld the team together — from the garage to the cockpit.
“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” he said. “In Formula 1, we have mechanics who are always first in performing pit stops. The engineers work to improve the car. The rest is not up to par. We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less. We have important races ahead of us, and it is not impossible to finish second. Ferrari wins when it is united.”
The sting wasn’t particularly well hidden. Ferrari’s Sunday unraveled early at Interlagos: Leclerc, who’d qualified a strong P3, was wiped out in a three-wide scrum into Turn 1 on Lap 6 while fighting for the podium. Hamilton’s day was scrambled almost immediately; tagged by Carlos Sainz on the opening lap, he later misjudged a move on Franco Colapinto and clipped the Alpine, wrecking his front end and floor. He ran on with a nervous car before Ferrari retired him mid-distance. Between the sprint and the grand prix, the tally was meagre — just a handful of points that did nothing to ease the pressure.
Elkann’s comments will land loudly in a season already heavy with narrative. Hamilton’s first year in red has been a study in adaptation, flashes of pace interrupted by a car he doesn’t quite trust yet and weekends where trouble finds him early. Leclerc, entrenched and typically metronomic over one lap, has largely carried the intra-team scoreline but has seen big Sundays vanish through little fault of his own. Together, they haven’t yet found that easy rhythm Ferrari hoped for when it put the most marketable duo on the grid in the same garage.
The president’s line about unity wasn’t accidental either. It came with a pointed contrast: while the F1 team stumbled in Brazil, Ferrari’s AF Corse arm clinched the FIA World Endurance Championship’s hypercar title in Bahrain, crowning a season headlined by victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours. “When everyone is together, great things can be achieved,” Elkann said. The subtext writes itself.
Inside Maranello, the leadership question is settled for now. Team principal Fred Vasseur signed a fresh three‑year deal earlier this season, ending speculation that Antonello Coletta — the respected head of Ferrari’s sportscar programme — might be parachuted across. Vasseur’s remit is clear: keep the operational standards high (Ferrari’s pit crew has been a standout all year) and turn a sometimes-fractious race operation into a complete, united force. Elkann’s nudge suggests he wants that transformation to accelerate.
Was it a public kick or a calculated spark? Probably a bit of both. It’s not unheard of for Ferrari presidents to lean on the drivers in plain sight when the calendar hits its hard miles. And as unwelcome as Brazil’s mess was, the timing gives them a runway: the Constructors’ runner‑up spot remains in play if Ferrari steadies the Sundays and relieves the two drivers of the sort of firefighting that invites radio drama and post‑race posturing.
For Hamilton and Leclerc, the path is straightforward even if the margins aren’t. Cut the self-inflicted errors, stay out of first-lap nonsense, let the car’s qualifying promise breathe, and cash the podiums when the strategy gets them there. The Ferrari is quick enough often enough to do exactly that; what it hasn’t been is consistently trouble-free.
Elkann’s phrasing will split opinion. Some will hear an unnecessary airing of laundry at a delicate moment. Others will argue Ferrari’s culture has spent too long avoiding hard truths in public. Either way, the message is clear: the team boss has cover, the crew is delivering, the car’s trend is upward — now the drivers have to turn the page with less talk and more points.
If you’re Leclerc, you take it as validation with a side of urgency. If you’re Hamilton, you take it on the chin, because there’s only one answer to it — and it arrives in parc fermé on a Sunday afternoon. Ferrari’s ceiling in 2025 hasn’t changed. But the floor needs lifting, and the president just told his two headline acts to do the heavy lifting themselves.
