Famous F1 pundit Will Buxton said in 2024, “There are two religions in Italy. There’s the Catholic Church and there’s Ferrari.” With over 21 million fans in Italy (a higher number than the entire population of the Netherlands) and more than 400 million worldwide, this statement is certainly true. While it may seem illustrious to drive in Formula 1 for such an iconic and loved team, there is always another side to the coin.
Before we get into the dark side of Ferrari, let’s first discover what makes them such a staple in motorsport. They are the oldest and most decorated team in F1 – the only one to have competed in every single World Championship since 1950. This means their fans have known heartbreak, disappointment, ecstasy and euphoria for years on end. These supporters, known as Tifosi, are the most passionate F1 fanbase. The roars of the crowd at the Italian Grand Prix completely trump any efforts from Brits at Silverstone. In Italy, a Ferrari win at Monza, such as Charles Leclerc in 2024, is enough to warrant a full day of celebrations and non-stop news coverage the next week. Ferrari is not seen just as a team, but a symbol of national pride. It is a piece of Italian identity. While Scuderia Ferrari haven’t been swimming in success in the last decade, fans haven’t quit on them. When Lewis Hamilton arrived in Fiorana to take a private test in 2025, more than 7,000 Tifosi gathered around the perimeter to watch his first performance. A month later, thousands more returned to see him drive, some even cutting down trees near the track to get a better view of the potential saviour of the team. This shows that, for the Tifosi, Ferrari always comes first.
As Enzo Ferrari put it, “Ask a child to draw a car and he’ll certainly colour it red.”
This all seems amazing – driving for a team with such a massive fanbase and always being the talk of the town. However, it has its hidden costs. Firstly, there is intense media scrutiny from the Italian press. When a good result is fumbled due to a bad strategy call or a driver slip-up, it is dwelled on for days. In other countries, F1 isn’t even a footnote on the sports section of the papers. In Italy, it’s on the front page.
Another thing is that the fans are never happy. If the team does well when they are underestimated, it is seen as the expected next step – the team is simply returning to where they belong. If they don’t perform however, questions about leadership, team dynamics, and driver capability are immediately called into question at a much greater speed than other teams.
There is also this idea of the ‘Ferrari Honeymoon’. When a driver first arrives at Ferrari, usually a multi-world champion such as Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, or Lewis Hamilton, there is a period of optimism and excitement. They feel passionate and capable enough to win and bring Ferrari back to its glory days. However, if championship success does not arrive straight away, the dynamics can shift speedily. The press and team members can turn critical, while the driver can start to feel deflated. This constant friction begins to erode the driver’s pure enjoyment for competing in F1. Lewis Hamilton, who has only been at Ferrari for two seasons, called his first one “a nightmare”, highlighting the difficulty in balancing the pride you feel putting on the Rosso Corsa racesuit with persistent on-track and strategic blunders.
It’s clear the effect of all this pressure on drivers. Since 2007, seven drivers have sat in the Ferrari cockpit; among them, four world champions. Despite this, Ferrari have only won 1 Driver’s Championship and 2 Constructors’ Championships. Even when they have proven race winners behind the wheel, they can’t nail it. Charles Leclerc is the most recent example of this. He is a Monegasque driver who has driven for Ferrari every year of his F1 career bar one. Even though he is an extremely capable and talented driver who’s fully committed to pleasing the Tifosi, he only has nine career wins. When Ferrari have the talent, they never have the equipment. It is a vicious cycle.
Being treated as a symbol of Italian identity and synonymous with F1 is a heavy burden for Ferrari drivers. Some can deal with the pressure, like Leclerc who has remained in Ferrari for nearly a decade now, while others crumble and fail to achieve what they set out to do. With Hamilton’s contract set to expire in 2027, it will be interesting to see if the price of being iconic is too much for him or not.
