Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has criticised his successor Sergio Marchionne, claiming he is “jealous” of the Scuderia’s history.
The Italian was at the helm for four decades, overseeing championship successes ranging from Niki Lauda in the late 1970s to Michael Schumacher ‘golden era’ in the early 2000s.
A feeling that the fabled Italian team needed to modernise eventually led to his ousting in 2015 with Marchionne taking over, with victories returning to Maranello albeit still no championship since the Constructors’ in 2008.
Instead, the Italian-Canadian’s most noticeable contribution has been his threat to quit F1 after 2020, something Di Montezemolo appears firmly against despite his own prior similar claims.
“I’m sad to see that Marchionne is very jealous of the past,” he said, speaking at the opening of an exhibition showcasing Schumacher’s career in Cologne.
“This is bad because to be jealous of the past means you have something strange in the mind. I’m very proud of what we did, Michael, Ross [Brawn], [Jean] Todt, so happy with what we did.
“Of course Ferrari is always here, and I hope now will again be in a condition to win, because Ferrari needs to win, and for Formula 1, Ferrari is very important.”
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And Di Montezemolo still has confidence that Vettel, who was his last driver signing before departing, can achieve the goal he set out back in 2015, to follow his hero and become a champion with Ferrari.
“Michael has won many championships with us, Seb unfortunately not,” he said ruefully. “I hope that he will soon start a new era, winning in a [run of] championships like Michael.
“To achieve the same results as Michael is not so easy [even] if he’s young and strong, a good driver, and this year finally with a very competitive car.
“I hope Seb will not have too much pressure on him. He’s strong, the car is good. Mercedes, until now, doesn’t seem to be so competitive.
“There are a lot of chances. Maybe this could be a good year.”
