Guenther Steiner's Bold Call for Ferrari in 2026 F1 Title Fight
Guenther Steiner has never been shy of an opinion, and he isn’t starting now.
The former Haas team principal believes Ferrari must make a hard – and potentially explosive – call if it wants to be a serious player in the 2026 Formula 1 title fight: back Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc, spell it out clearly, and do it early.
Zandvoort flashpoint exposes Ferrari fault line
The tension burst into view at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Strategy split the two Ferrari drivers, and the aftermath exposed a team still feeling its way through a new dynamic.
Hamilton, on fresher tyres and with clearly stronger pace, found himself bottled up behind Leclerc. Lap after lap, the seven-time world champion sat in dirty air, watching his race – and potentially crucial points – slip away. The radio messages grew sharper. The frustration was obvious.
Ferrari hesitated. Leclerc stayed ahead. Hamilton’s race suffered.
For Steiner, speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, that wasn’t just a bad afternoon. It was a symptom of a deeper issue.
“You cannot implement team orders during a race,” he said. “You need to agree them beforehand.”
In other words: this isn’t about one call at Zandvoort. It’s about Ferrari not setting the rules of engagement before the lights go out.
“Put your money on the guy with the better chance”
Steiner cut straight to the heart of the matter – the championship arithmetic and what it demands from a top team.
“The realistic thing is, can Charles really win the world championship? Maybe not. And who is in front? Lewis,” he said.
He admitted he hasn’t sat down with a spreadsheet to map every scenario, but his logic is simple. If one Ferrari driver has a more credible shot at the title, the team has a duty to recognise it and act accordingly.
“If one of the two can win, it is Lewis,” Steiner continued. “So, as somebody else has shown, if you want to win, it's very tight up front there. You need to put your money on the guy who has got the better chance.”
That “somebody else” is an obvious nod to outfits like Red Bull and Mercedes in their most ruthless, title-chasing years. When the stakes rose, they didn’t hesitate to create a clear number one.
For Steiner, that clarity has to be sold honestly inside the garage. Leclerc, hugely popular within Ferrari and a proven race winner, would need a blunt conversation.
“That's the guy in front, who has got more points, and that is the only selling point to Charles,” Steiner said. “‘Hey buddy, your team-mate has done better up to now. Now he's number one.’”
No sugar-coating. Just the cold logic of a title campaign.
Vasseur’s call – and Vasseur’s alone
If Ferrari is to go down that route, Steiner is clear about where the responsibility lies. Not with the boardroom. Not with the chairman. With the man on the pit wall.
“Fred, that is his job,” Steiner said of team principal Fred Vasseur.
John Elkann, Ferrari’s executive chairman, stays out of it in Steiner’s view.
“I don't think John Elkann should or would get involved in it because if he gets involved in that one at that stage, he needs to run the team.”
That line underlines the stakes for Vasseur. He was hired to steady Ferrari, to give it structure and direction after years of near-misses and internal turbulence. Now comes the hardest part of any title project: choosing a leader and living with the consequences.
“But I think Fred is very much in control of it,” Steiner added, “because Fred needs to win a world championship.”
The message is unmistakable. Ferrari can keep both drivers happy, or it can throw its full weight behind the one with the better shot at the crown. In Steiner’s world, those are not the same thing.
