Ferrari urged to resolve major issues to end 'contradiction'

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has labelled Ferrari a "contradiction" amid its ongoing struggles.

The Scuderia began the sport's newest technical regulations as the team to beat last season with Charles Leclerc securing two of the opening three races.

But the Monégasque's challenge wilted as Ferrari battled reliability issues, strategic blunders and his own driver errors, eventually finishing 146 points behind champion Max Verstappen.

Problems have permeated into the new campaign, with Ferrari the only team in the top four that has failed to secure a podium in the opening three races - falling behind Aston Martin and Mercedes in the pecking order.

"Ferrari are a contradiction, aren't they?" Chandhok told Sky Sports F1.

"Statistically, they are the sport's biggest marque, most successful, but in other ways, they are the biggest underperformers.

"They have got great resources, great budget, great drivers but at the end of this year it will be 15 years since they last won a Constructors' Championship which equals their longest drought from '83 to '99.

"There are some big issues to resolve there."

The change Ferrari needs?

Ferrari has been hit with a mini-exodus in recent months with former Team Principal Mattia Binotto replaced by Frederic Vasseur, whilst former head of car concept David Sanchez has left ahead of his switch to McLaren for next season.

Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, AlphaTauri announced the capture of Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies, but former W Series driver Naomi Schiff believes the change could be what the Maranello-based team needs.

"There is a lot of change happening at Ferrari with Binotto leaving, Fred coming in, Sanchez as well and now Mekies... a lot of key members who are leaving and there is going to be a lot of reshuffling as he [Vasseur] mentioned," said Schiff.

"They didn't have the greatest season last year so maybe there is some thought behind that. Carlos said that it is not just people leaving, they are also hiring and bringing people in so maybe this is the change Ferrari needs."