Ferrari president accused of ‘not good leadership’ for public driver jibe

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has called out Ferrari president John Elkann for publicly criticising his drivers.

Following a miserable Sao Paulo Grand Prix where Ferrari suffered a double DNF and slipped to fourth in the constructors’ championship, Elkann suggested Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc “need to focus on driving and talk less”.

The remarkable and eye-opening comments came in the wake of seven-time world champion Hamilton describing his maiden season at Ferrari as a “nightmare”.

Both Hamilton and Leclerc later issued defiant statements calling for unity at Ferrari on the same day Elkann addressed media in Milan.

Steiner has accused Elkann of “not showing good leadership” by criticising his drivers in public.

“He is allowed to critique because in the end he’s the boss, but I think he shouldn’t do that in public,” Steiner told The Red Flags podcast.

“With Lewis, you know… But Charles, the guy puts his heart and soul into this, everything. What more do you want from Charles?

“It is not showing good leadership saying ‘this guys is doing it right, the mechanics are good, the engineers are good, but you guys are bad’ in public. And no comment about Fred.

“I find it weird to say the least, to make a comment like this, from a person at that level of the company - the highest level. He doesn’t have to ask anybody to do it or not to do it.

“But if you have nothing good to say, say nothing in that position. Obviously they won the sportscar championship, which congratulations, but you cannot compare the two championships.

“You still need to win it and I respect that they won it, it’s very cool, but in the end it’s a balance of performance championship. Formula 1 is a different kettle of fish.

“I’m not downgrading what they won in sports cars, but to say ‘see what it’s possible to do’… yeah… how about helping it to make it happen?”

Elkann told to ‘look in the mirror’

Steiner claimed Elkann only has himself to blame if he is not happy  with how his drivers are performing, having chosen to replace Carlos Sainz with Hamilton over the winter.

Hamilton won the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix but is yet to finish on the podium for Ferrari, while Leclerc has racked up seven rostrum appearances in 2025.

“Also, who decided the drivers? Sometimes you have to look in the mirror. For sure he agreed to hire Lewis, that’s my understanding,” Steiner continued.

“I critiqued this guy but I picked him, maybe I’ve done something wrong. If he made the wrong decision, if he feels so.

“I don’t know what they [Hamilton and Leclerc] said. I don’t get it.

“Maybe he was a little bit emotional when he said it, they won the [WEC] championship and didn’t even get in the points, both cars dropped out in Brazil, can you imagine how disappointed he was?Maybe he was a bit pissed off.”