Red Mist: John Elkann, The Kingmaker!

Poor old John Elkann. Can’t get anything right, can he? Fresh off stumping more millions than any of us will ever see in a lifetime to escape criminal fraud charges after his grandma’s will was diddled, there he is, like Titan struggling to hold up the crumbling world of Stellantis.

Johnny Boy took the great brands grandpa left him and went on a splurge to collect every second struggling badge he could lay his hands on to create a monster nobody can understand. Then they went on an electric crusade, left Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lancia on the brink of extinction.

Think about that for a second. Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lancia. Pundits give Stellantis months before it implodes. So one has to feel for poor Johnny.

And then he went and planted his giant foot right in the Ferrari hornet’s nest. Called his brilliant drivers out and ended up with enough egg on his face to feed a hungry army battalion breakfast on his face. Can’t do anything right, our Johnny, can he?

But wait, there’s an exception. Elkann is an incredible Formula 1 kingmaker. Take, for example current double F1 World Constructors’ Champions and perhaps 2025 Drivers’ Champions team boss Andrea Stella. A Ferrari test engineer, he stepped up to run Michael Schumacher to three Ferrari Titles from 2002, moved on to add another with Kimi Räikkönen and also ran Fernando Alonso at Ferrari until 2014.

The man who could beat Stella to the Drivers’ Champion team boss, former Asiatech and Minardi race engineer Laurent Mekies, moved to the FIA as safety director before Elkann poached him to work with Mattia Binotto at Ferrari.

Then there’s brilliant Ferrari engine man Binotto himself. Also part of the Schumacher Ferrari era, he became chief engineer in 2009, engine boss in 2013, chief technical officer in 2016 and team principal for 2022.

The catch? Well, all of them are now Formula 1 kings, but for other teams. Stella joined McLaren as racing director in 2015 and became team boss from 2023 to finally turn McLaren around and win titles again. At the same time, Binotto, who clearly never had the tools to succeed at Ferrari, left and has since taken up the reins at Audi.

Binotto’s wingman, Mekies, another who could never get it right at Ferrari, left for Racing Bulls shortly after and was promoted to his new winning role at Red Bull this year. Neither could get anything right at Ferrari, but Mekies won out the box at Red Bull. Let’s see how long it takes before we see the old Binotto back at Audi. Watch this space.

So yes, while none of them could get much right under Elkann at Ferrari, Stella and Mekies have long proven their worth beyond doubt at greener pastures. Rest assured, so will Binotto. Still, John Elkann was their kingmaker. Pity it’s at other teams, but kings they certainly are.

Now, just imagine if Stella, Binotto and Mekies felt compelled to stay on and make that Ferrari dream happen. Or if Fred Vasseur answered to a real leader at Maranello.

Makes the mind boggle, as much as it does to ponder why a leaderless Ferrari floats about like a turd in the doldrums and that horrible 21-year record looms ever closer to being beaten.