Ferrari are "easy to beat" when emotions are running high at the Italian team, according to Niki Lauda, a former Ferrari driver who is now the team chairman at the Maranello marque's arch-rival Mercedes.
Despite an earlier strong challenge, Sebastian Vettel's 2017 title campaign fell apart recently amid car failures, and new rumours that team Maurizio Arrivabene could be sacked as a direct consequence.
Lauda said that sort of chaos would simply show that Ferrari is falling back into bad old habits.
"Ferrari is hard to beat when there is inner peace and trust in their own performance," he told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in Austin.
"But they are easy to beat when they stand in their own way with performance pressure, high expectations and when people are emotional and insecure."
Mercedes beat Ferrari to the 2017 constructors' world championship on Sunday - Lewis Hamilton needs only to finish fifth in Mexico this weekend to win his fourth drivers' crown.