"Ferrari spent the whole winter break creating marketing hype but forgot to build the car": Fans left unimpressed by the team's poor start

Scuderia Ferrari has had a disappointing start to the 2025 F1 season, slipping to fourth spot in the constructors championship standings with 35 points. Fans, meanwhile, are seemingly losing their patience as they hit out at the team for allegedly neglecting the development of the car.

The Maranello-based squad grabbed the limelight before the new season began as they signed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in a multi-year contract. With two marquee drivers in Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the Italian team was touted as one of the strongest title contenders.

However, the expectations flattered in just the first three races of the 2025 season. Leclerc and Hamilton failed to make it to the top five at the Australian Grand Prix and faced an unfortunate double disqualification in China. Moreover, in Japan, Leclerc missed out on a podium, ranking P4, whereas Hamilton came home P7.

With the Italian team failing to secure a single podium in the first three races of the season, Tifosi fans have voiced their frustration on social media. They accused the team of neglecting the car's development and focusing more on marketing.

"Ferrari spent the whole winter break creating the marketing hype for the car but forgot to build the car to match the hype," a fan said.

"They welcomed Lewis. They expectations were that they would build on the last season momentum as top two but that wasn't the case. That said, Italian media is too emotive," another fan wrote.

"The car’s for later. Maybe next year," a user commented.

A fan also expressed that the pre-season hype was a worrying sign.

"That’s what I was worried about seeing all the hype," another user suggested.

"Haha. Nicely put," a fan opined.

"absolutely," a user agreed.

Ferrari finished P2 last year in the constructors championship, losing to McLaren by a small margin. However, this year, the team appears to be in serious trouble after managing to accumulate only 35 points in three races.

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Lewis Hamilton feels his Ferrari car is 'underperforming'

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton at F1 Grand Prix Of Japan - Source: Getty

At the 2025 Japanese GP, Lewis Hamilton finished P7 while his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc got P4. Since the beginning of the season, the seven-time world champion has been consistently outperformed by his new teammate.

Reflecting on the deficit, Hamilton said (via The Race):

“Through the first three races, there’s been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage on an element of the car. On my side, something is underperforming. It's good to know. With what I had, that's the best result I could get.”

While the Brit refused to share details on what aspect of the car was sub-optimal, he believed that if and when Ferrari fixes the issue, his performance will likely improve.

The next race up on the calendar is the Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for Sunday, April 13 at the Bahrain International Circuit.