Sebastian Vettel no longer feels "at home" with Ferrari after the decision to drop him was taken "too early", former chairman Luca di Montezemolo says.
The relationship between the four-time world champion and the Italian team has appeared increasingly fraught in recent weeks after Vettel struggled with reliability issues and poor pace during both weekends at Silverstone.
To compensate for that, Ferrari has brought a new chassis for him at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, but Di Montezemolo does believe the way Vettel has been treated has led to the current predicament.
“One of my last actions as the CEO of Ferrari was to bring Sebastian to Ferrari,” he told RTL.
“For me, Sebastian is a champion, he is a very good team driver. What do I mean? Like Michael Schumacher: he wins and loses with the team. He works wonderfully in a team.
“Sebastian is very fast. Sometimes a champion needs a good environment, to show it. In my opinion, the decision not to extend with Sebastian was made too early. They should have taken more time.
“Sebastian does not feel at home at the moment, if I may put it like that, and the psychological aspect of a driver is fundamental."
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During last Sunday's race, Vettel showed his clearest sign of frustration yet, telling the pitwall they had "messed up" on strategy as he slipped to a 12th place finish.
But rather than continue the current downward spiral, Di Montezemolo hopes driver and team can get back on something like the same page.
“Certainly he made a mistake at Silverstone on Sunday, that’s part of the race. You can understand his anger," he continued.
“The team needs to give him a lot of trust now, he needs that. Ferrari needs him, needs his points, needs Sebastian.
“I hope that everyone in the team will help him to show that he is a champion in his last year [at Ferrari] because he is a champion.
“But I have my doubts whether the car’s characteristics match Sebastian’s driving style. He hasn’t been satisfied since the beginning of the year. Without question, the car is not competitive.”
During the season, however, there have been questions over whether Ferrari is already favouring Charles Leclerc through a better car, with the Monegasque having claimed two podiums already in 2020.
“I really don’t know how everything is handled at the moment," the former chairman replied.
“But I hope…I am sure that both drivers are treated equally. I see no reason to treat them any differently. But like I said I don’t know.
“Sebastian is incredibly important for Ferrari, especially at this moment when Ferrari doesn’t have a competitive car.
“And Ferrari needs two motivated drivers who bring the maximum out of the car. I hope they will do everything to bring the enthusiasm back and treat Sebastian in the best possible way to enable him to succeed again.”
