Mika Hakkinen believes the public comments made by Ferrari chairman John Elkann ahead of last weekend's Italian Grand Prix likely added more pressure to an already tense atmosphere at the Scuderia.
Ferrari hit the ground running at the start of the F1 season, with Charles Leclerc enjoying at one point a commanding lead in the Drivers' standings.
But gradually, strategy, operational errors and mistakes set in at the Italian outfit while arch-rivals Red Bull and Max Verstappen came into their own.
Over the summer, the latter forcefully built up their lead, with Ferrari only wins two races – at Silverstone with Carlos Sainz and in Austria with Leclerc – versus seven wins for championship leader Verstappen.
©Ferrari
Ahead of the Scuderia's all-important home race at Monza, and in the wake of another execution setback at Zandvoort, Elkann stated that Ferrari needed to raise its game in all areas.
"We have great faith in Mattia Binotto and appreciate everything he and all our engineers have done, but there is no doubt that the work in Maranello, in the garage, on the pit wall and at the wheel needs to improve," Elkann told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Ferrari has always had a lot of pressure," Hakkinen wrote in his post-Italian Grand Prix Unibet column. "And it is something unique to them.
"Of course, at McLaren we felt the pressure of competing to win, trying our best, not being satisfied if we were not winning.
"But Ferrari has always had this additional pressure of being a kind of national team."
Hakkinen believes therefore that Elkann's comments perhaps only served the purpose of piling on more pressure on a team in need of calm and composure to perform.
"There is always the feeling of extra pressure, and this cannot be easy on the management or drivers who need to keep working hard, pushing together and making sure they do not start to blame each other when things go wrong," he added.
"It’s interesting to see the comments of the Ferrari chairman, especially in public, as that adds more pressure on the team.
"I think this season has been difficult because they started with a quick car, race wins and a lot of confidence, but Red Bull have operated so efficiently, making so few mistakes and improving the car."
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