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Ferrari telling its own drivers to "focus on driving and talk less" is "very harsh" and "ill-advised" according to 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill and three-time race winner Johnny Herbert.
In the latest episode of their new F1 podcast Stay On Track, produced by The Race, the pair discuss the current turmoil at Ferrari, which has led to the unusual situation of the company chairman publicly calling out the team's drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, for speaking critically of Ferrari's performance.
While recognising John Elkann has responsibilities to Ferrari that extend well beyond the reach of its F1 team, Hill suggested Elkann's interjection has come from being under pressure over the car company's wider performance as a business.
"Clearly it's not been a great season for them, their hopes and expectations, and also Lewis's fanfare arrival, the shares went up when he announced he was going to drive for Ferrari, and now they've gone down again," Hill said.
"This is a guy whose job it will be to look at the results for the company, and share price matters.
"If he's doing a good job for the company, all the branding depends on, is interlinked with, their image as a successful team, and they've not had enough success, for all the investment.
"And so really, he must be under a bit of pressure somewhere, feeling the heat a bit.
"Anyway, I think it was ill-advised, because I don't think that's helpful."
Hill also suggested Elkann's comments undermined the feedback Hamilton gave earlier in the season about his involvement in trying to improve the F1 team in conjunction with the upper management.
"Lewis was making all these noises about having discussions and I got the impression that Lewis was in there with the management, sort of saying, 'This is not working the way it needs to work, these things can be improved'," Hill added.
"So to have gone to the effort to try and make the right changes, or get things moving in the right direction and change maybe the culture coming from Mercedes, with his insights there, and now going to Ferrari and saying, one or two things could be better, to now be told they need to shut up...it's a little harsh, perhaps."
Herbert added: "I think it's very harsh. And with the experience that mainly Lewis [has], because Lewis is the one who's won the world championships with Mercedes and with McLaren, he knows how those teams work, and they work in a very, very methodical way.
"I think it's fair, what they [the drivers] are saying. They're critical of the team and the performance of the car. And that's their job.
"I think for John to come out there and try and almost tell the drivers to shut up is probably not a beneficial thing, because I think it only makes it a little bit more difficult for the drivers in that environment.
"The problem is back at the factory, unfortunately, where the engineers haven't been able to produce the goods. If the drivers had the car they need, they wouldn't be commenting in that way."
Stay On Track, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert's new F1 podcast, is available ad-free in The Race Members' Club or can be found on your podcast platform of choice
