Damon Hill believes that Ferrari president John Elkann’s recent criticism of drivers was unhelpful—it is perfectly normal for Formula 1 drivers to be “critical.”
Ferrari president John Elkann is facing further backlash after publicly criticizing drivers. Damon Hill, 1996 Formula 1 world champion, told Mirror Sport that he cannot imagine Elkann’s statements being beneficial.
“I saw the interview. I was a little surprised by what I heard, and I think many others were too,” Hill said. Elkann had told Sky that Ferrari had drivers “who should concentrate more on driving and talk less.”
“I don’t know what happened,” said Hill, who emphasized that he was not aware of any statements by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc that would justify Elkann’s criticism. The long-time Williams driver explains that as a Formula 1 driver, you are always “critical.”
“They are part of the team, but the drivers are, in a sense, the end users of the product,” Hill reminds us, explaining, “It’s unlikely that they’re going to say everything is wonderful when it’s obviously not.”
Hill says he does not find Elkann’s statements “humiliating,” but “it can be a little demoralizing.” Saying such things “in public” can “undermine” the drivers, explains the 22-time Grand Prix winner.
“But ultimately, the Ferrari boss pays them,” Hill also knows, explaining: “If they’ve said the wrong things, you’ll get some backlash now and then.” Nevertheless, he personally does not believe that Elkann’s statements are helpful in the current situation.
Previously, Hill’s former Jordan teammate Ralf Schumacher, for example, had also criticized Elkann. With three races to go before the end of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Ferrari is still winless and only in fourth place in the world championship.
If this remains the case, it would be the Scuderia’s first Formula 1 season without a win since 2021 and even the first time since 2020 that it would miss out on the top 3 in the Constructors’ World Championship.
