The Project That Got Away

So here's the thing, I've been working at this software company for about five years now. I'm what you'd call a mid-level engineer, which means I don't have the authority to make big decisions but I'm not exactly on the bottom of the food chain either. Our team was assigned a high-profile project six months ago; it was supposed to be one of those milestone achievements that could really boost our careers and our company's reputation. From day one, my colleague Sarah had taken charge. She was charismatic, organized, and clearly saw herself as the de facto leader of the group. I wasn't bothered by this initially, Sarah is a good person and generally a solid worker. But over time, it became clear that she was micromanaging everyone while only half-heartedly participating in actual coding sessions. Meanwhile, her ideas were often vague or impractical. I tried bringing my concerns to the project manager, Mike, but he seemed more focused on keeping team harmony than addressing issues. I felt frustrated and undervalued as our project deadlines loomed closer without much progress being made. In hindsight, maybe I should have just spoken up louder in meetings and not assumed everyone was on the same page about the project's direction. Anyway, a couple weeks ago we had our final review before submitting everything for approval. At this meeting, Sarah presented what looked like a rushed solution to some critical bugs we hadn't addressed yet. I spoke up, pointing out these issues in detail and explaining why her proposed fixes were inadequate and risky. She got defensive, saying that she 'knew the system well enough' and didn’t need my input. I suppose it was unprofessional of me but I couldn’t hold back then, something snapped inside. Maybe it was because of all the buildup over these past months, or maybe just tiredness from late nights trying to compensate for her inattention to detail. But I basically called out Sarah and questioned whether she deserved her role as unofficial leader based on how poorly things were going. Predictably, the rest of my team sided with Sarah; no one wanted confrontation. And now, while we're technically still working together, there's an awkward tension hanging over us all whenever we meet. I don't regret what I said because those problems needed to be brought up, but I do feel bad for possibly damaging any chance of a positive work environment moving forward. I suppose in the end, I'm left wondering if there was another way to approach this situation without burning bridges with someone who, at heart, isn’t necessarily an awful person. Or maybe it’s just me overthinking everything as usual.