Elkann tells Ferrari drivers to ‘focus on driving and talk less’

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton need to “focus on driving and talk less” according to Ferrari president John Elkann, following a double retirement at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Ferrari slipped to fourth in the constructors’ championship – 36 points adrift of second-placed Mercedes – after failing to score at Interlagos on Sunday. Leclerc was the innocent party in a collision between Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli that eliminated the Monegasque when he was fighting for second place, while Hamilton was caught in two incidents – the second earning him a time penalty – before retiring with too much damage.

“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” Elkann said. “If we look at the Formula 1 championship, we can say that on one hand we have our mechanics, who are actually are winning the championship with their performance and everything they've done on the pit stops.

“If we look at our engineers, there's no doubt that the car has improved. If we look at the rest, it's not up to par.

“We certainly have drivers, for whom it's important that they focus on driving and talk less, because we still have important races ahead of us and it's not impossible to get second place.”

Elkann was speaking at an event for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games that will be held across Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo early next year. His appearance coincided with a weekend where Ferrari won the World Endurance Championship titles for both drivers and manufacturers, something he used to suggest the F1 team is not working fully cohesively.

“To win both as a constructor and as drivers is a beautiful demonstration that when Ferrari is united, when everyone is together, you can achieve great things,” Elkann added.

Leclerc appeared to take note of Elkann’s comments with his latest social media post, as he highlighted the need for the team to remain united at this stage of the season.

“Disappointing to come back home with nearly no points at all for the team in what is a critical moment of the season to fight for the second place in the constructors championship,” Leclerc wrote. “It’s uphill from now and it’s clear that only unity can help us turn that situation around in the last the races. We’ll give it all, as always.”