Steiner accuses Ferrari of prioritising pride over performance after Bahrain strategy blunder

Guenther Steiner has taken direct aim at Ferrari’s internal culture, claiming the Scuderia’s unwillingness to acknowledge strategic mistakes is costing it points on track — with the chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix serving as his primary exhibit.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, the former Haas team principal dissected Ferrari’s decision to start both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on soft slick tyres despite wet conditions at the Malaysian circuit. The call backfired immediately, dropping the pair to the back of the field in the opening laps. Both drivers recovered remarkably — Hamilton finishing third and Leclerc fourth — but Steiner argued the damage was self-inflicted and, crucially, prolonged by a reluctance to course-correct.

Steiner drew a pointed contrast with McLaren, who switched Oscar Piastri to intermediate tyres early and gained a decisive advantage. “At McLaren, it’s like, ‘OK, I think we made the wrong decision, let’s fix it,’” Steiner said. “At Ferrari, it’s, ‘No, we need to show that we made the right decision, even if it’s wrong, because we cannot admit that we made the wrong decision.’”

He suggested the problem runs deeper than any single race call. “It’s not like the present that you discuss it, it’s just in the back of your head… ‘OK, this must be the right decision, don’t change it, because otherwise I admit that it was wrong.’” The implication is that Ferrari’s decision-making is being filtered through a concern for institutional reputation rather than pure performance.

Hamilton himself acknowledged the frustration after the race, describing a sinking feeling when he saw rivals on intermediates while he sat on slicks as the track remained treacherous. “My heart sank and I was kind of like, that’s the race over,” the seven-time world champion said. “But then they were like, ‘Should we stop?’ And I was like, ‘No, we’ve already made the decision, we have to live with it, and we’ll stay out here until this bloody place dries.’”

Hamilton admitted he was surprised to recover to third place given the scale of the deficit. “It’s crazy to think we were over a minute down,” he said, adding that the track dried far more slowly than expected given the usual conditions in the region.

The podium finish offered some consolation, but Hamilton was candid about the gap between what Ferrari achieved and what might have been possible with a different opening call — a sentiment Steiner clearly shares.