Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari boss says the F1 team have now lost their ‘soul’

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Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has accused the team of lacking ‘soul’ in their current form.

Di Montezemolo first joined Ferrari as an assistant to the company’s founder Enzo in the 1970s. He then became the sporting director of the F1 team, overseeing two world championships for Niki Lauda.

After moving to a role within parent company Fiat, the Italian was appointed Ferrari chairman in 1991. At that point, they hadn’t won a title since 1979, and it took until the end of the decade to end the drought.

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Luca di Montezemolo questions Ferrari’s ‘competitive spirit’

Ferrari’s constructors’ championship triumph in 1999 heralded an era of dominance with Michael Schumacher at the wheel. Schumacher won five straight titles between 2000 and 2004, the longest sequence in the sport’s history.

While Schumacher retired at the end of 2006, his successor Kimi Raikkonen landed Ferrari’s 15th drivers’ crown a year later. Nearly two decades later, that remains their most recent triumph.

In a short statement to Blick, Di Montezemolo, who resigned in 2014, blamed a cultural shift for the team’s barren run.

“Above all, the team lacks soul,” he said. “The lack of the necessary competitive spirit at the top also prevented the expected results.”

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton is dealing with the same problem Sebastian Vettel had at Ferrari eight years later

It’s worth noting that Ferrari’s slump began when Di Montezemolo was still in charge. Red Bull took over as F1’s dominant team at the start of the 2010s, even if Fernando Alonso was Sebastian Vettel’s greatest challenger, and then it was Mercedes’ turn in the turbo/hybrid era.

When Mercedes’ supremacy finally came to an end, it was Red Bull and McLaren who were in a position to capitalise.

This isn’t the first time Di Montezemolo has been critical of the new regime, either. Last year, he suggested that Ferrari had no ‘leader’, an apparent dig at team principal Fred Vasseur.

The new season is only four races old, but it looks as if Ferrari’s barren run will continue. Lead driver Charles Leclerc is already 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli and based on recent form, the team will soon lose second place in the constructors’ to McLaren.