Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Ferrari's reluctance to acknowledge errors is actively damaging their on-track performance, citing their wrong tire choice at the Malaysia race start. Ferrari decided to start Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on soft slick tires despite wet conditions, immediately dropping both drivers down the order.
Steiner argued on The Red Flags Podcast that Ferrari's hesitancy to admit fault was demonstrated when they didn't immediately switch to intermediate tires as McLaren did with Oscar Piastri. He contrasted Ferrari's approach with McLaren's willingness to quickly acknowledge and fix wrong decisions during races.
The former team boss suggested Ferrari's mentality involves showing that decisions were right even when clearly wrong, creating a mental barrier to making necessary strategic corrections. He described this as not conscious discussion but rather a subconscious reluctance to change course that can prove costly during races.
Despite the strategic error, both Ferrari drivers recovered strongly, with Hamilton finishing third and Leclerc fourth after remarkable comeback drives. Hamilton revealed he had mixed emotions about the podium result, believing he could have achieved more without the initial tire choice mistake that cost over a minute of race time.