Guenther Steiner's Bold Call: Ferrari Must Choose Lewis Hamilton for 2026 Title Fight

Guenther Steiner has never been shy about calling it as he sees it. This time, his message is aimed straight at Maranello: if Ferrari want to be in the thick of the 2026 Formula 1 title fight, they must pick a side — and that side, he says, has to be Lewis Hamilton.

The former Haas team principal believes the flashpoint at the Dutch Grand Prix laid bare a problem Ferrari can no longer afford to ignore. At Zandvoort, Hamilton, armed with fresher tyres and clearly quicker, sat bottled up behind Charles Leclerc as the strategies diverged and tempers frayed. Lap after lap, the seven-time world champion watched his race ebb away, his frustration spilling onto team radio.

For Steiner, that wasn’t just an awkward afternoon. It was a warning.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, he argued Ferrari had set themselves up for trouble long before the cars rolled onto the grid.

"You cannot implement team orders during a race," Steiner said. "You need to agree them beforehand."

In his view, the discussion Ferrari avoided is the one that matters most in a title battle: who is the priority? Who gets the benefit of the doubt when strategy calls clash and seconds decide championships?

Steiner’s answer is blunt.

"The realistic thing is, can Charles really win the world championship? Maybe not. And who is in front? Lewis," he said. "I haven't done the calculations of how realistic it is for him to win the world championship, but if one of the two can win, it is Lewis."

That, he argues, should dictate everything. In a tight fight at the front, indecision is a luxury top teams do not have.

"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," Steiner continued.

Right now, that means Hamilton. More points. More momentum. More proven closing power in a title run-in.

"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.'

It is a harsh conversation, but in Steiner’s world, it is non-negotiable. The responsibility, he insists, sits squarely on the shoulders of team principal Fred Vasseur.

"Fred, that is his job," Steiner said. "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."

The message is clear: this is a racing call, not a boardroom matter. The team boss has to draw the line, set the hierarchy and live with the fallout.

"But I think Fred is very much in control of it because Fred needs to win a world championship," Steiner added.

Ferrari have the star power. They have Hamilton. They have Leclerc. What they do not yet have, Steiner suggests, is the ruthless clarity that turns potential into silverware.