Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has fired Ferrari a warning that it must "wake-up" if it wants to claim second in the constructors' championship after a disastrous Baku.
Ferrari endured an Azerbaijan Grand Prix to forget, despite Charles Leclerc having started on pole at the Baku City Circuit in four consecutive years from 2021-2024.
The Scuderia made an excellent start by ending the opening day with a one-two, before everything went wrong in qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, before Leclerc crashed at Turn 15 in the opening minutes of Q3. It resulted in Leclerc starting from 10th, ahead of Hamilton in 12th.
Minimal progress was made by the duo in the race, with Hamilton finishing in eighth, directly ahead of Leclerc in ninth.
However, it should have been the other way around, as Hamilton was supposed to let Leclerc past before the chequered flag, having been given the position earlier in the race due to fresher tyres.
The seven-time world champion slowed down too close to the chequered flag, while both drivers were beaten by the likes of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.
Due to the poor result and Mercedes finishing with both of its cars in the top four, Ferrari has slipped to third in the standings.
Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner revealed his 'loser' of Baku, saying: "I think we have to give the loser [award] this time to Ferrari, because eighth and ninth, beaten by Racing Bulls, beaten by Williams.
"The mess, not to let Charles past at the end, Lewis falling asleep to let him by because he was focused on something else.
"They need to wake up, because if they want to finish second in a championship, like this it's not going to happen. So at the moment, they're not second anymore."
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Ferrari versus Mercedes versus Red Bull
Ferrari faces a major fight against Mercedes and Red Bull to clinch second in the championship, in what is a three-way battle.
Just 18 points split the three outfits, with Steiner expecting Red Bull to struggle the most out of those fighting for second.
"Any of the three, they are so close together, it's too early to call it," added Steiner. "If Mercedes has a good race and they win a race, and Kimi can score some points, they can be in front.
"But I think Red Bull will have the most struggles, we'll get to Red Bull afterwards, but I don't think Max will win a lot more races this year."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Oscar Piastri's shock Baku crashes are a major talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen has drawn himself back into the F1 title fight.
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