Juan Pablo Montoya thinks ‘you need two brain cells’ to work out the real problem at Ferrari

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John Elkann’s remarkable criticism of the two Ferrari drivers has reignited the debate over who is to blame for their poor 2025 season. The Scuderia are rapidly approaching a winless campaign and have slipped outside the top three in the championship.

Elkann told Ferrari’s drivers to ‘talk less‘ outside the car and praised the contribution of the mechanics and engineers. The Scuderia have set the standard this season when it comes to pit stops.

Meanwhile, Ferrari engineers blame Enrico Cardile, their former technical director, for the car’s inherent flaws. Cardile handed in his notice midway through last year and is now working for Aston Martin.

Charles Leclerc has scored seven podiums for Ferrari, giving the team some moments of celebration. While his teammate has struggled, Jolyon Palmer says Hamilton is crucial to Ferrari’s P2 hopes in the constructors’.

Onboard footage of Lewis Hamilton shows Ferrari’s car is the real problem

Speaking on the AS Colombia YouTube channel, Juan Pablo Montoya pointed to Max Verstappen’s onboard footage when he was running behind Hamilton in the early stages of last weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Hamilton could be seen sliding repeatedly, though he had sustained damage in a first-lap collision with Carlos Sainz.

Montoya says Ferrari’s car is the obvious problem, rather than the drivers, and has called for the team to accept that their methods aren’t working.

Hamilton sent Ferrari feedback documents recommending some fundamental changes, but these were apparently met with resentment in some quarters.

“Look at the onboard footage of Max, who’s behind Lewis,” Montoya said. “That car of Lewis… my God. The Ferrari isn’t good over bumps, but I don’t understand.

“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.'”

Juan Pablo Montoya thinks he knows the real reason John Elkann attacked Ferrari drivers

Ferrari say Elkann was trying to motivate the team with his remarks, but Montoya views the situation differently.

His impression is that the chairman is facing some ‘internal pressure’ and wants to deflect it onto the drivers instead. But Ferrari won’t win until they ‘realise’ that they must change their ways.

Christian Horner says there are ‘too many’ voices at Ferrari, which prevents them from taking swift and decisive action. Montoya agrees that these politics are a major hindrance.

“The reason he said that is because there’s some internal pressure against him,” he said of Elkann. “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.”

Ferrari haven’t won a constructors’ title since 2008, and a drivers’ title since 2007.