Ferrari president accused of ‘bad leadership’ after attack on Hamilton and Leclerc

Guenther Steiner has criticised Ferrari president John Elkann for publicly lambasting Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari chief has been roundly criticised after suggesting his drivers should “talk less” following another underwhelming season.

Ferrari president John Elkann accused of ‘bad leadership’

After being talked about as a contender for the title, Ferrari now find themselves fourth in the Constructors’ with a handful of races left to go.

Following the latest disappointment, which saw both drivers DNF, Elkann suggested Hamilton and Leclerc stop criticising the team in the media.

“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” Elkann said.

“In Formula 1, we have mechanics who are always first in performing pit stops. The engineers work to improve the car.

“The rest is not up to par. We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less, and we have important races ahead of us, and it is not impossible to finish second.”

Elkann has been criticised for attacking his own drivers and former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner suggested it was bad leadership from the Ferrari chief.

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

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“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 guy is doing it right, the mechanics are good, the engineers are good, but you guys are bad’ in public. And no comment about Fred [Vasseur].

“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.”

Steiner went on to say that Elkann had a part to play for choosing the driver lineup so cannot point the finger at the pair.

“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 said.

“I criticised 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.”

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