Ecclestone thinks Ferrari 'too Italian'

And if the biggest flaw of Ferrari, was that his organization? In any case, this is the opinion of Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of the Formula 1. The Briton, aged 87, put forward this reason to explain the various errors of the Scuderia in the face of Mercedes this season.

After the Russian Grand Prix, Mercedes is 53 points ahead of Ferrari in the Manufacturers' standings. « It's too Italian a team. I told someone recently, it's like back then. » The time of Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt? " No before ", he says.

The ex-F1 financier talks about a period preceding the arrival of Jean Todt at the head of the Scuderia in 1992, i.e. the lean times for the Italian brand in the 80s (no Drivers and Manufacturers title).

“We had Jean Todt at the head of the Scuderia to look after the team, so it wasn't that Italian (like management) and Michael was the leader of the stable. Everything was different then. I think they are lacking this kind of organization a little at the moment. », he continues. With the Todt-Schumacher tandem, Ferrari won seven Drivers' crowns and six Constructors' titles between 1999 and 2004.

The other sensitive point of the trans teamalpine according to " Mister E.” is the influence, even interference, of the parent company on its F1 division. “Ferrari operates in a completely different way to Mercedes; the latter have a team which only races, and which has absolutely nothing to do with the brand.

Ferrari takes care of production cars by more or less adapting to their performance in F1. It's not the same thing. »

Discover the analysis of the Russian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2185 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.