After the recent news circulating regarding Ferrari chairman John Elkann criticising the Italian team, Jacques Villeneuve voiced his opinion. The pransing horses suffered both cars retiring at the F1 Sao Paulo GP.
Villeneuve: “Ferrari will always protect Ferrari”
The bad results had Elkann stating the drivers “need to focus on driving and talk less”, which in turn led to much controversy. The previous F1 driver, Jacques Villeneuve, spoke to BetVictor Casino about the controversy expressing:
“We shouldn’t be surprised because remember how it ended up with Prost, with Mansell, with Alonso, with Vettel. It seems to be a trend at Ferrari. Ferrari comes first. And Ferrari will always protect Ferrari.”
He continued on to further explain:
“I didn’t see comments that were detrimental to the team coming from the drivers. So, it’s the chairman who’s done this, but this came just after winning the WEC. I guess he was pinpointing how amazing the team in WEC did, compared to F1. But it’s a different ball game.”
The Ferrari way
The previous World Champion further explained his opinion on the matter by referencing the past of the Italian team. Ferrari members are not people who often criticize their own team, and will naturally be attempting to protect the team environment.
“It was a bit shocking, but it seems to be the Ferrari way when you look at the past. Most drivers have broken their teeth there, most drivers with personality. It’s a strange environment.
“Brazil just turned out bad, not because there was a lack of pace or because the drivers were doing bad. I think that came out a little bit of left field, purely linked to winning the WEC.
“It’s part and parcel of sports. You have emotions, you have energy, and it will go both ways. And I’m sure that’s what happened with the chairman as well. The emotions of winning and then a bad weekend result-wise in Brazil. So, the two mixed together created a big reaction.”
At the F1 São Paulo GP, both drivers were unfortunate. Charles Leclerc suffered a hit from Kimi Antonelli’s battle with Oscar Piastri which caused the Ferrari driver to retire from the damage. Similarly, Lewis Hamilton was unlucky as damage to the car on the opening lap was enough to end his race. While both drivers attempted their best, unforeseen circumstances led them to no points.
Slippery slope in today’s media
Villeneuve continued on to express that comments such as Elkann’s are magnified in today’s environement.
“We live in an era where everything gets multiplied, whether it’s on social media or gets over-analysed. But I don’t see how those comments can be helpful, not least in creating a positive mindset because they’ve always seemed to be quite united with their team. They both seemed to be using their social media channels to call for unity.”
As the Canadian points out, both Ferrari drivers took to Instagram and X to speak on the mishaps of the weekend and called for unity.
“Obviously, the energy at Ferrari is not great, which is not surprising. It’s been years of not winning. There were high hopes this year, so it’s been a big letdown. So, of course the emotions run high.” Villeneuve continued.
“The problem is that when it gets out into the media, it gets dirty and that’s never a nice thing. Then it gets bigger than it is and it can get out of control mostly with the fans and the media.
“We really have to be careful with that because it’s a slippery road. Hopefully that’s where it will stop because we’ve seen what happened with Prost, Mansell, almost every driver with a personality that has been in Ferrari.
“It would be a shame, if it went that way again,” he concluded.
