Montoya tears in Ferrari: 'You only need two brain cells to realise how bad they are'

15:44, 16 Nov

Updated: 17:15, 16 Nov

byOlly Darcy

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes "politics" at Ferrari is the "biggest problem" in a scathing assessment of the Scuderia.

"You have to realise at some point that the way things are being done isn’t working."

- Juan Pablo Montoya

It comes after Ferrari president John Elkann slammed both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, saying that the team "have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less".

Those comments were made a day after a disastrous double DNF for the prancing horse at the São Paulo Grand Prix, seeing the gap between themselves and Mercedes widen to 36 points in the constructors' championship.

"The reason he said that is because there’s some internal pressure against him," was Montoya's reaction to the comments made by Elkann while speaking to AS Colombia.

Ferrari chairman John Elkann saw seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton join Ferrari for the 2025 season, but the Brit has yet to score a Grand Prix podium this campaign - Photo: Race Pictures

"The best way to combat it is to reflect it outward, but you have to realise at some point that the way things are being done isn’t working.

"The biggest problem at Ferrari is politics, a lot of politics."

With three races remaining in the 2025 season, Ferrari are staring down the prospect of a winless season for the first time since the dismal 2020 season that saw them finish P6 in the constructors' championship.

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Montoya then turned his attention to the performance of the SF-25 at Interlagos, specifically Hamilton's, with some Turn 1 contact with Carlos Sainz resulting in damage to the Brit's machine.

"Look at the onboard footage of Max [Verstappen], who’s behind Lewis, that car of Lewis… my God. The Ferrari isn’t good over bumps, but I don’t understand," continued the 50-year-old.

“It’s like you need two brain cells to realise how bad they are. At some point, you have to let your guard down and say: 'Hey, I was wrong, what we’re doing isn’t working, let’s try something different.'"

Elkann blasted after his comments

There has been plenty of reaction to the comments made by Elkann after the Brazil GP, with former drivers and team principals all having their say.

Jenson Button had a blunt response; "Maybe John should lead by example" was all the 2009 world champion had to say, while Jacques Villeneuve also had plenty of questions about the words used by the Ferrari chairman.

Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner had his say on the matter too, believing that Elkann's words 'should not have been said in public'.

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