Montezemolo ‘very worried’ about Ferrari’s future

Luca di Montezemolo (R) with the late Marchionne (L)

(GMM) Ferrari must take "courageous decisions" or risk losing more than just the 2020 world championship.

That is the warning of former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who told Rai radio that "this season is lost" for the famous Maranello based team.

"This season is lost, but the next ones are at risk," he said. "Courageous decisions are needed on the organisation because Binotto is, in fact, alone."

Indeed, a lot of weight is currently falling on the shoulders of Mattia Binotto, who as Ferrari team boss also doubles as technical director.

Montezemolo, 72, was ousted in 2014 after a power struggle with the late Sergio Marchionne, and he says: "I would go back to Maranello yesterday, on foot.

"But there is zero possibility of that."

So he is left just to offer advice, warning that Ferrari failing to get to the bottom of the crisis now will have knock-on effects for the future.

"I am very worried about what happens next because we are also playing for 2021 and 2022," said Montezemolo.

"Today's problem stems from the organisation, where only one person, and a young person, has many responsibilities on his shoulders.

"The Ferrari management must now take courageous decisions. If the car has not been significantly improved, then it will be even worse next year," he added.

The Ferrari F1 car is so slow Sebastian Vettel cannot wait until this year is over and he can move to a faster car – both Ferrari cars were lapped in Hungary. The Ferrari design team is lost

As for the drivers, Montezemolo thinks that situation has been mismanaged too.

"I honestly would not have announced Vettel's departure so soon because the pressure on Leclerc is also now great. Let's not forget that he is very young, only coming to Ferrari last year and he hasn't won anything yet," said the Italian.

"It is not easy to bring two number 1s together, the choice is to have only one, but I would have waited to announce it.

"The problem though does not lie with the drivers, and I don't think a nose or a wing is going to be enough. There is a race every week or every 15 days and with this organisation I think it will be difficult to develop the car or think about the future.

"It is a very delicate moment," Montezemolo said.

Team boss Binotto, though, thinks that while Ferrari needs to ponder what to change, he also has "faith" in the actual people at Maranello.

"We have started a path that must lead us to reopen a winning cycle, which takes time but the whole company supports this vision," he said.

"This is why some of the news that can be read makes me smile," he is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Rolling heads do not make a car go faster."