The atmosphere at Maranello is rarely calm, but the 2025 Formula 1 season has plunged Scuderia Ferrari into a crisis of confidence so profound that it risks undoing its most significant personnel coup in a generation: the signing of Lewis Hamilton.

As the team stares down its first winless season, the focus has shifted from championship contention to an intense internal struggle over leadership, driver futures, and the philosophical direction of the sport’s most historic name. The drama is complex, driven by poor results, fueled by conflicting public messages, and now intensified by scathing criticism from one of the sport’s most iconic, and ruthless, figures.

The season was supposed to mark a triumphant new era, defined by the sensational arrival of seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Yet, the reality has been far less glamorous. Hamilton, whose blockbuster move from Mercedes made headlines last winter, is still desperately chasing his first top-three finish in red.

While teammate Charles Leclerc has managed to salvage the year with seven podiums, the SF-25 has struggled for consistency, leaving Leclerc fifth in the standings, but Hamilton trailing in sixth. This lack of delivery has triggered a chain reaction, casting doubt on the entire operation—starting at the very top.

Vasseur Under Siege: The Dictator Debate

As Ferrari’s wind drought continues, the position of Team Principal Fred Vasseur has become the central flashpoint of the team’s internal crisis. Doubts over his leadership have resurfaced, even fueled by earlier, albeit premature, reports that the team had been in quiet talks with former Red Bull chief Christian Horner.

In an attempt to stabilize the situation, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann issued a public and unambiguous vote of confidence. Speaking at the 50th anniversary of the National Italian-American Foundation in Washington DC last month, Elkann stated, “I want to express our full confidence in team principal Fred Vasseur and in the work he is doing together with all his colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari”.

However, Vasseur’s response to this backing was surprisingly cryptic, hinting at deeper tensions within the team’s power structure. He clarified that Elkann’s message wasn’t solely for him, but rather directed toward a mysterious “third party” or “an external target”. The inference—that the chairman’s public words were a calculated move to “stop the discussion” and silence external critics or internal dissenters—suggests a team operating not from a position of unity, but one bracing for a political fight.

This narrative was further complicated by the brutally candid assessment provided by Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna. While stressing that the team must continue to work in a united and cohesive way, Vigna admitted that rival F1 teams “seem to operate more smoothly than it does for us”. He stressed that all the ingredients necessary to win must be functioning properly, acknowledging that “the season has not gone the way we expected”. This frank admission from the CEO highlights the genuine concern that extends to the highest echelons of the company, even with Vasseur’s internal backing.

The most explosive intervention came from former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who did not mince words when assessing the Scuderia’s current leadership. Ecclestone branded the Frenchman “too weak” to succeed as team principal, claiming he lacks the necessary authority to steer Ferrari back to the top. According to the 94-year-old, Vasseur simply “doesn’t possess the ruthlessness that Ferrari demands”.

Ecclestone concluded with a statement that harks back to the team’s most dominant era under Jean Todt, stating, “The problem is Ferrari needs a dictator at the top to be successful”. He argued that the team’s famously high-pressure Italian environment, where “everyone in Italy talks there and interferes in what is right and what is wrong,” requires a leader willing to make the toughest and most unpopular decisions.

The Hamilton Conundrum: A Failed Marketing Project?

Ecclestone’s critique didn’t stop with the team principal; he turned his unsparing attention to Lewis Hamilton himself. The F1 veteran dismissed the Briton’s high-profile move to Ferrari as “little more than a financial marketing project” that has failed to deliver both on and off the track. In Ecclestone’s view, the seven-time World Champion is struggling to find his rhythm in red, believing that “everything is slipping through his fingers there”. The implication is stark: Hamilton’s ambition to become world champion with Ferrari is surprising him with its difficulty. Offering a final, brutal assessment, Ecclestone suggested that in the future, Hamilton will likely “focus on fashion” rather than racing.

While such dismissals are easy to make from the sidelines, the hard data surrounding Hamilton’s contract suggests the speculation has teeth. When the seven-time World Champion made his blockbuster switch ahead of the 2025 season, expectations were undeniably sky-high. However, an ESPN report suggests that senior paddock figures believe Hamilton may not be offered a renewal when his contract expires at the end of 2026, citing a distinct “lack of standout performances”.

This is more than just sensationalism; it is a question of performance relative to his teammate. While his pace relative to Leclerc has not been “quite as bad as some naysayers have suggested”, the fact remains that Leclerc currently holds a 64-point lead in the standings. The much-hyped Hamilton-Leclerc partnership hasn’t clicked, and the constant speculation is an unwelcome shadow over the man who was meant to be their savior.

The Natural Successor: The Rise of Ollie Bearman

Amidst the swirling doubts over Hamilton’s tenure, attention has inexorably shifted to a 20-year-old rising star: Oliver Bearman. He is the driver who has undeniably “caught [Vasseur’s] attention”—someone the Team Principal has described himself as a “very very big fan of”. Bearman is widely regarded as the “natural successor to Lewis Hamilton” for good reason.

The young Briton, a Haas driver in his rookie season, turned heads with a stellar showing in Mexico, leaving a lasting impression on Vasseur. F1 pundit Martin Brundle has already tipped Bearman as the man “most likely to inherit a Ferrari seat if one opens up”. Brundle pointed to the young driver’s composure, noting his ability to keep his head “under a lot of pressure”, particularly during the closing stages in Saudi Arabia and his decisive move on Max Verstappen. Brundle’s assessment is simple: “Just the moment that there’s a seat at Ferrari for whatever reason, then Bearman should be in it as far as I’m concerned”.

Dutch commentator Nelson Valkenberg added further weight to the growing narrative, remarking on Vasseur’s “growing fascination with the young Brit”. While Valkenberg cautions that “an awful lot can go wrong”, he stressed that Vasseur is “very very much on his side”. Bearman’s performance in Mexico, characterized as a “measured performance,” came at the perfect time to silence naysayers after an erratic rookie season. The stars appear to be aligning for the young talent just as uncertainty grips the seven-time champion.

The Technical Counter-Attack: Project 678

Despite the political turmoil and personnel drama, one constant remains: Ferrari’s unwavering commitment to its future. Behind the scenes, the Scuderia is pressing ahead with one of its most ambitious technical overhauls in over a decade. This undertaking, codenamed Project 678, is the car that will challenge for the 2026 season and represents a bold, innovative new chapter for Maranello.

Spearheading this technical vision is Loïc Serra, Ferrari’s technical director, who is reviving a concept not seen at the team’s Maranello base since the 2010 F10—a car that nearly carried Fernando Alonso to a world title. Vasseur reportedly urged the technical team to be audacious in their development choices, a mindset that has led to a radical twist in the car’s design.

Both Leclerc and Hamilton have already sampled this new direction in the state-of-the-art simulator, providing early feedback on a machine designed to bring the Scuderia back to championship contention. While engineers are set to carry over and fine-tune elements of the current mechanical setup, the key differentiation is a suspension revolution.

Under Serra’s guidance, the team is set to debut a dual push rod suspension layout both front and rear. This marks the first time Ferrari has used such a comprehensive setup since 2010. This design is a major philosophical shift, abandoning the SF-25’s dual pull rod design and demonstrating a willingness by Ferrari’s engineers to push the mechanical systems to their absolute limits to extract maximum aerodynamic gains.

With the chassis and suspension systems now finalized and the launch specification ready, the question remains whether Project 678 is the silver bullet that can solve Ferrari’s woes. The team is betting its entire future on this technical leap, hoping it will be enough to override the personnel issues and the political infighting that have plagued their 2025 campaign. For now, the drama in red is far from over, and the outcome—from Vasseur’s survival to Hamilton’s ultimate fate—will define the next era of Formula 1.