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Are Ferrari boss John Elkann’s comments that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to focus “on driving and talking less” after their poor results this season unfair? – Jordan
John Elkann certainly caused a stir with his comments the day after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
It’s not clear what exactly sparked them, nor did Ferrari say.
But given that it came less than 24 hours after Hamilton said his run of results in his first season at Ferrari was “a nightmare, and I’ve been living with that for a while”, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume the seven-time champion may have been on Elkann’s mind.
As far as Hamilton is concerned, this is typical of the kind of emotional comments he makes when he has a disappointing race.
Remember when he said after qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix that he was “useless” and “drove terribly” and that Ferrari “maybe need to change the driver”?
He didn’t mean it then, not really. Brazil should be viewed in this context.
After all, Hamilton said: “I believe there is something extraordinary waiting for me in my life and in my destiny. I still truly believe in this team and what we can achieve together.”
One might think that this is exactly the kind of message Elkan would want to hear.
The problem many people had with Elkann’s comments was that their accuracy was questionable.
He praised the mechanics for “winning the championship mainly through their performance and everything they did in the pit stops”, on the grounds that they lead the world rankings for average pit time., external
Fair enough, but then he said: “If we look at our engineers, there’s no doubt the car has improved.”
Well, maybe it was. But not for the opposition. Ferrari had been trailing the lead by an average of 0.372 seconds in qualifying during the first half of the season, and so far in the second half they are trailing by 0.472 seconds.
As for the drivers, yes, Hamilton has gone through a difficult period this year, but his performance has improved during the season, even if the Brazilian race was difficult for him.
But Leclerc was great. Although he regularly pointed out that the car was not fast enough, no one would disagree with him, not even Elkann.
Ferrari in F1 to win. Nothing less is good enough. This is just a fact. Leclerc has been steadfastly loyal to the team.
Ferrari said Elkann’s comments should be seen as an incentive for the team to do better. But it’s hard to see how Leclerc and Hamilton will treat them kindly, despite their good intentions.
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