Ferrari are at risk of losing Lewis Hamilton's trust following a series of errors, including his recent disqualification in China over skid block issues.
Former race strategist and current Sky F1 analyst Bernie Collins has issued a stark warning to the Italian team.
She believes that repeated mistakes could make the seven-time world champion doubt his new employers.
The disqualification in China marks the latest setback in what has been a challenging start to Hamilton's Ferrari career.
Lewis Hamilton might be losing confidence in his Ferrari team already
REUTERSCollins, who worked as a strategist for Aston Martin, drew parallels with her experience building trust with Sebastian Vettel.
"When Sebastian Vettel came to us at Aston Martin, I really wanted him to think we were good at our jobs," Collins told Sky Sports.
"I really wanted him to go 'if she calls me to pit, I'm going to do it because I trust the team'."
Hamilton enjoyed a promising start to his weekend in China, securing pole position in the sprint shootout and converting it to a dominant win on Saturday.
Many expected the Briton to carry this form into Sunday's Grand Prix.
However, Ferrari's fortunes spiralled dramatically as Hamilton struggled in qualifying.
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He could only manage a P6 finish in the main race before being disqualified when his skid block was found to have worn away too much.
This technical infringement came after previous strategy and radio issues in earlier races.
"Now we have had a strategy thing, a radio thing and now disqualification, so it makes the driver unsure," Collins explained.
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Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget with the F1 star disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix on SundayREUTERSShe specifically highlighted how these issues compound for Hamilton at Ferrari.
"Lewis was really struggling in the car on Sunday and the car was illegal. It's one of these little things that adds to the lack of trust.
"Fundamentally, it's the race engineer's job [to ensure] that the car is legal. Each race engineer for each car, it lies with them that the car is legal."
Ferrari will need to quickly address these technical issues if they hope to maintain Hamilton's confidence in the team.
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Lewis Hamilton was found to have had excessive skid wear beneath the vehicleReutersThe next race in Japan presents an immediate opportunity to rectify these problems.
Collins suggested that understanding why the car was illegal in both instances will be crucial.
"If they go through it and they find whatever's wrong, then Lewis can get over that pretty quickly," she noted.
For a champion of Hamilton's calibre, trust in his machinery and team is paramount to success.
