Ferrari icon pinpoints major handicap giving its UK-based F1 rivals an edge in the championship

Former Ferrari F1 team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has cast light on the disadvantage the team has compared to the UK-based F1 teams. The Fred Vasseur-led outfit is the only one among the heavy hitters to not have a base in the UK; it operates from its headquarters in Maranello, Italy.

In the eyes of Maurizio Arrivabene, Ferrari is extremely potent at developing engines but lacks in the composites and aerodynamics department, compared to its UK-based rivals. Teams like Mercedes (Brackley), McLaren (Woking), and the Max Verstappen-starred Red Bull (Milton-Keynes) all have their bases in the UK.

In line with all this, Arrivabene recently had an interaction with Tuttosport and came up with an in-depth analysis, he added:

"We're a bit behind on composites and aerodynamics because we continue to make engines better than anyone else. The English in the Oxford area have developed that type of technology and are ahead. To make up this gap in tradition, but also in skills and universities that are very close to production, we have a lot of work to do. But we're getting there. It takes patience, but Ferrari is on the right track."

"Thirty thousand people work in England; it's not just about winning races, it's about progressing at an industrial level."

The Maranello-based Ferrari Formula 1 team last won a championship in the sport back in 2008. In that year, the outfit was able to lift the Constructors' and in the immediately preceding year, the team won the coveted Drivers' Championship with then-driver Kimi Raikkonen.

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Ferrari is in third position in the 2025 Constructors' standings

While Maurizio Arrivabene has given a fascinating take on the handicap Ferrari faces in the pinnacle of motorsport, the outfit is currently in third place in the 2025 Constructors' Championship. A title is not going to come the way of the team this year, and their best bet for the same will be in 2026.

The ongoing campaign is 17 rounds down, and the Woking-based McLaren F1 team is leading handsomely from the front in the standings. Courtesy of the efforts of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the outfit is in P1 with a mega 623 points. Ferrari, on its end, is in third with only 286.

In the Azerbaijan GP, the Italian team again had a tough outing as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished in P8 and P9. With only seven races remaining on the race calendar, the best the team can fight for is a second-place finish in the standings.

The Toto Wolff-led Mercedes team is currently in P2, having amassed 290 points. Keeping this in view, Leclerc and Co. would ideally like to end the 2025 F1 season in second place behind the high-flying McLaren.