Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne says it would be a 'tragedy' for the company if it didn't lift the F1 world championship title again by 2018.

The iconic Italian marque hasn't celebrated an F1 world title since Kimi Raikkonen's success in 2007, while more than a decade has elapsed since the dominant Ferrari-Schumacher era.

Indeed, though Ferrari enjoyed an upturn in performance last year, chairman Marchionne remains frustrated that the Scuderia's title drought threatens to stretch to a decade, going as far as calling it a 'tragedy' for the brand

"If we were to somehow fail to win a title over a 10-year span it would be a tragedy," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"If we were to string together victories in F1 then it would improve our brand. I was speaking with one of our car dealerships and we agreed that the results of 2015 helped bring back credibility to the brand.

"Mercedes' dominance is because as soon as the rules were implemented they understood them immediately, while we took our time. But I don't want to criticise the past. From what I saw we didn't have the engine to win and the power unit wasn't good enough."

Even so, Marchionne was full of praise for the changes actioned by new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene in 2015 as the team climbed to second in the constructors' championship.

"When we cleared our ranks. We won because we brought focus back to the team and began to do the things that are really important. Maurizio Arrivabene's arrival helped a lot."