Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone reduced Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari to a \u201cfinancial marketing project\u201d in a damning assessment.<\/p>\n
With Hamilton<\/a> struggling to make a success of his first season with Ferrari, Ecclestone also took aim at Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, claiming that he is not the \u201cdictator\u201d which Ferrari needs to successfully run the team.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari: A slow-burner waiting to flourish?<\/p>\n While Hamilton has found improved pace in the second-half of F1 2025, he will go into the Brazilian Grand Prix 64 points behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings. Hamilton is yet to register his first podium with Ferrari.<\/p>\n It was a move designed to revitalise Hamilton\u2019s career after a challenging final few years at Mercedes, but his pursuit of a record eighth world championship appears in danger unless he and Ferrari can turn the tide under the new chassis and engine regulations coming for F1 2026.<\/p>\n It is a partnership which certainly has not impressed Ecclestone, who in a sport.de interview, gave his typically unfiltered opinion.<\/p>\n Ecclestone bluntly stated his belief that Hamilton is \u201cone of the best of the last ten years, but he\u2019s not the best\u201d, while he dismissed the union of Hamilton and Ferrari as a \u201cfinancial marketing project\u201d.<\/p>\n Ecclestone added on Hamilton: \u201cEverything is slipping away from him there. He wanted to become world champion there and is now surprised that he can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Vasseur \u2013 who has been at the Ferrari helm since 2023 and signed a new multi-year deal in the summer \u2013 is not the style of leader which Ferrari requires, according to Ecclestone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that Ferrari needs a dictator at the top to be successful,\u201d Ecclestone suggested.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t speak Italian there, they speak Ferrarian. Everyone in Italy has a say and interferes in what is right and wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Lewis Hamilton from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Why Lewis Hamilton\u2019s documents are a red flag for Ferrari<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Lewis Hamilton net worth: Where does he rank amongst the world\u2019s 50 highest-paid athletes?<\/a><\/p>\n Four rounds remain for Hamilton to generate some momentum heading into F1 2026, though he has made it clear that this is a long-term project at Ferrari to reap the rewards.<\/p>\n Not since their 2008 Constructors\u2019 Championship win has Ferrari enjoyed title glory in Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful and there have been plenty of positives, although a lot of responsibility and weight comes with it,\u201d said Hamilton of his alliance with the team in a Ferrari Magazine interview.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone expects to win straight away, but Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day. How long did it take? We\u2019ll have to look that up.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton said \u201cnot many people\u201d are fully aware of how long it takes time to win in Formula 1, adding: \u201cOnly when you\u2019re inside a team can you really, truly understand how it works and how F1 works. You can\u2019t imagine how the machine really operates otherwise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in F1 for so long, but when I came to this team it really was different again.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t blame people for not knowing.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I can do is continue to focus on the things that I can control. How I prepare and work with the team. How I show up each day and stay positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton has a vital role to play in the Ferrari\u2019s runner-up quest in the F1 2025 Constructors\u2019 Championship<\/a>. Ferrari currently holds P2, one point ahead of Mercedes and 10 up on Red Bull.<\/p>\n