Gone are the days when a team can throw money at their problems in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
As such, Ferrari vice chairman Piero Ferrari claims that makes modern Formula 1 success \u201cvery complicated\u201d to achieve. Their seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton is hard at work behind the scenes trying to install the \u201cseries of winning factors\u201d which Piero alludes to.<\/p>\n
When will Ferrari end their F1 world title drought?<\/p>\n
Not since 2008 has Ferrari<\/a> reached the Formula 1 summit as Constructors\u2019 Champions. You need to go back a year further to find their most recent Drivers\u2019 Champion, Kimi Raikkonen.<\/p>\n In the time since, we have had two cycles of Red Bull dominance and the Mercedes era, with McLaren now emerging as the new dominant force. Ferrari missed out on the 2024 Constructors\u2019 title to McLaren in an Abu Dhabi end-of-season showdown, McLaren kicking on from there to establish themselves as the clear standard.<\/p>\n Ferrari are second in the F1 2025 standings but 299 points behind McLaren, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have formed a McLaren-exclusive Drivers\u2019 title battle.<\/p>\n Ferrari\u2019s draught is destined to continue for another season, and in a La Gazzetta dello Sport interview, vice chairman Piero Ferrari was asked why it has been so long since Ferrari were on top.<\/p>\n He pointed to how the budget cap, introduced in 2021, means that spending your way out of trouble is no longer an option.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a matter of cycles,\u201d he said. \u201cF1 has always worked like this, and when you start a negative cycle, you don\u2019t know when you\u2019ll hit rock bottom.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, it\u2019s very complicated because you can\u2019t spend more money to bridge the gaps, given the budget cap restrictions. You need to put together a series of winning factors to change course.\u201d<\/p>\n And that is exactly what Lewis Hamilton is trying to help Ferrari achieve.<\/p>\n The on-track performances have not always been up to scratch for the seven-time World Champion, who arrived at Ferrari in a big-money deal. But, he is looking to use his record-breaking winning experience in Formula 1 to set Ferrari up for fresh title glory.<\/p>\n F1 2026 represents major opportunity for Ferrari and all teams, with the chassis and engine regulations to be overhauled.<\/p>\n How F1 2026 is shaping up<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1\u2019s huge regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI see a huge amount of potential within this team,\u201d Hamilton stated. \u201cThe passion, nothing comes close to that. But it\u2019s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it\u2019s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team, particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the team over the last 20 years, they\u2019ve had amazing drivers: Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian \u2014 all World Champions. However, they didn\u2019t win a World Championship [Raikkonen did with Ferrari in 2007].<\/p>\n \u201cI refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I\u2019m going the extra mile.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams. While things are different because there\u2019s a different culture and everything, I think if you take the same path all the time, you get the same results. So I\u2019m just challenging certain things.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been incredibly responsive. We\u2019ve been improving in so many areas, through marketing, through everything we are delivering for sponsors, the way the engineers continue to work. There\u2019s still a lot of improvements to be made, but they\u2019ve been very responsive.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, I\u2019m just trying to create allies within the organisation and get them geed up, get them pushing. I\u2019m here to win. I don\u2019t have as much time as this one here [gestures to Kimi Antonelli], so it\u2019s crunch time.<\/p>\n \u201cI truly believe in the potential of this team. I really believe they can win multiple World Championships moving forward. They already have an amazing legacy. But during my time, that\u2019s my sole goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton sits sixth in the Drivers\u2019 Championship<\/a>, one position and 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n