Ex-CEO Ferrari: 'Celebrating third place? To me that feels like a defeat'

Luca di Montezemolo once had the wisdom to bring Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt together in his Ferrari F1 team. The former CEO of the Italian car company has not regretted that to this day: thanks in part to the trio, Ferrari enjoyed a decade of sporting prosperity. How different it is today: the team are already happy with a third place in a GP, much to Di Montezemolo's incomprehension.

At the Trento Festival, an annual motorsport festival in Italy, Di Montezemolo spoke about the past and, more importantly, the present of the Italian F1 team. Full of nostalgia, the Italian thought back to the glory days with Schumacher in the cockpit. He looks at the current results with disappointment. Although Ferrari have, so far, won one Grand Prix this season - thus being the only team to break Red Bull Racing's dominance - the rest of the season features mixed results. Sometimes the podium is attainable, but regularly it's not.

"I am not happy with how Ferrari is currently doing," the Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Di Montezemolo as saying at a conference during the Festival. "I don't like celebrating a third-place finish, for me it feels like a defeat. The drivers? I think they are the least of the problems. The car is the problem...."

Di Montezemolo also sees how Max Verstappen is currently in a class of his own in Formula 1. On his performance, the former CEO said, "Very good, I love him. We have followed him since his days in karts."