<< Return to the news list

Niki Lauda hits out at Ferrari president Marchionne

Published on 15 May 2016 12:34
5
By: Danny Sosef

Niki Lauda has hit out at the pressure Ferrari's president Sergio Marchionne is putting on the faltering Maranello team. Heading into the Barcelona round, Ferrari and Fiat chief Marchionne had said he expected the team to immediately end its winning drought in 2016.

But the red cars were actually outpaced in qualifying not just by the normally-dominant Mercedes, but also the charging Red Bulls.

"The fact that Ferrari is so far behind is very surprising," Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman but also a former Ferrari champion, told German television RTL.

"The problem with Ferrari is that they are under pressure -- the more Marchionne calls for wins, the more the Italians make mistakes," he added.

Sebastian Vettel, normally Ferrari's lead driver, even trailed teammate Kimi Raikkonen on Saturday, but insisted the pressure is not getting to the team.

"He (Marchionne) talks to us internally, it is not just what is written in the newspapers," the German told the Spanish daily Marca. "So this does not affect us in the way you may think.

"Tomorrow (Sunday) he will come and wish us luck. Yes, he is our president, but also a big fan who wants Ferrari to succeed. We all have ambitious goals and do not need any warnings," Vettel added.

Asked if he can deal with the pressure at Ferrari, the German told Spain's El Pais: "I am always asked about the pressure, but in Red Bull I had Dr Marko who can be quite demanding!

"The pressure I have, I put on myself and it is much greater than anything else coming from outside. Nobody has to tell me to win," Vettel added.

Boss Maurizio Arrivabene, meanwhile, has been the subject of rumours in Barcelona but he also backed Marchionne's right to demand that Ferrari wins.

"I would be worried if a president came to us and said we should go to Russia or Barcelona and finish second. I don't think Enzo Ferrari would have said such things either," he told Italy's Autosprint.

Like Lauda, Alain Prost is another famous former Ferrari driver who knows the pressures of driving for the Scuderia.

"It's never very stable," the Frenchman, working as a pundit for British television in Barcelona, told the Telegraph.

"You can see that today, with the rumours about what is happening."

F1 News Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Mercedes Ferrari

Replies (5)

mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
Your troll driver with no real skill took out Nico, you have bigger problems at Merc trtolololo! Thanks for the entertaining race without your two clowns in the lead
- + 0
- May 15 2016 - 16:07
- NOTHINGBUTTHETRUTH
  
  Posts: 13,929
  Please have a look at this:
  www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1J6B09HH7I&;feature=youtu.be
  + 0
  
  May 16 2016 - 00:02
- mclarenfan1968
  
  Posts: 1,027
  Uh huh, British media is totally going to be objective, right? lol. With Mr Martin Blunder the Lewis Defense force chief himself siding with Lewis what kind of analysis you expect from SkyTV bwahahaa. And? That's just their opinion man!
  
  Lewis is at fault here, Lauda was too quick to admit it to the press right of the bat, Troll Wolff is much more smooth and managed to spin it into a 'racing incident'.
  
  Mr. Blunder failed to have Nico get a penalty for it, seems to me FIA are being selective here they don't want to penalize Ham with a reprimand because that will result in a sure shot 10 place grid penalty for the next race with 3 reprimands on his book. Nico is entitled to make one defending move and made it but butthurt lewis rekt not only himself but also Nico in the process. End of story.
  + 0
  
  May 16 2016 - 10:07
f1dave

Posts: 782
Does this mean that Lauda has inside info from Ferrari or is he just spouting a lot of hot air as usual. I don't see what he contributes to Mercedes other than playing the clown.
- + 0
- May 15 2016 - 16:59
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Well, he do like to talk, dear Lauda. But I do agree with him: what Marchionne is doing really wont help the team.
  + 0
  
  May 15 2016 - 17:12