Ecclestone: Ferrari are too Italian

Bernie Ecclestone believes he knows the reason why Ferrari are struggling up against Mercedes in the 2018 constructors' championship, suggesting the team is now "too Italian" to be successful in that the company of the Prancing Horse is more important than the racing.

Ferrari are 53 points behind Mercedes in the title race and have not won the world championship in a decade, with the last victory coming in 2008 with Kimi Raikkonen also winning the drivers' title.

Ecclestone believes that Ferrari are too focused on their Italian image, and that is the reason for their slump as the likes of Mercedes just focus on actual racing.

"It's too Italian a team now," Ecclestone told Auto Hebdo.

"I told someone the other day that it's like it was before."

The former F1 owner was then asked if he was referring to the era under Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher, but he said no, claiming that it is the organisation that featured under that duo which is now gone.

"No, before that.

"We had Jean Todt who made them not that Italian and Michael was the real leader of the team. I think that kind of organisation is missing now," Ecclestone continued.

Ecclestone believes that Mercedes should be a point of reference for how Ferrari should be run.

"Ferrari works in a totally different way to Mercedes. They (Mercedes) have a team that is just racing, with nothing to do with the company," he added.

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