By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief
Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t appear to have a ton of faith in the current regime at Ferrari and says that the team should look outside of its Italian roots in order to find success once again.
Despite having four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, the Maranello-based squad failed to score a win in 2016, scoring just 11 podiums en route to third in the constructors’ standings.
Under the leadership of Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene since November 2014, Ferrari have only managed to score three wins during that time period and have witnessed a constant flux with departures such as Technical Director James Allison.
With the hype of hope falling flat for Ferrari last season after a strong rebounding campaign in 2015, Ecclestone,86, insists that Vettel isn’t to blame despite never finding the top step of the podium for just the second time in his career since competing full time in 2008.
“It’s not his fault that he’s not winning,” Ecclestone told Sport Bild.
“It’s about the car and the team. Ferrari has fallen back into the time before [Michael] Schumacher and [former Team Principal Jean] Todt.”
The F1 boss cited believes it’s to heavily concentrated with the squads countrymen and suggested that the team isn’t being run “successfully.”
“There are too many Italians working there,” he continued.
“Nothing against Italy, but running a team successfully is not in their DNA. Ferrari needs fresh blood.
“But I’m sure Sebastian is doing everything he can to succeed.”
With the 29-year-old German’s contract expiring with Ferrari after the 2017 season, rumors have begun to take shape that he could be looking to jump to main rival Mercedes, but Ecclestone insisted that Vettel’s focus is only on bring his current team back to winning form.
“Sebastian’s mission is called Ferrari, because I know he wants to succeed there first.”
