Guenther Steiner condemns “complete nonsense” decisions; asks for improvements to F1 race control
Guenther Steiner believes there is a "lot of work to be done" in regards to F1 race control, and that there is "a lot of margin" to do better.
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Guenther Steiner
In 2021, there was a lot of controversy over race direction all year, culminating in the season finale. In Abu Dhabi, the decisions made by the Race Director, Michael Masi were deemed ‘human error’, and he was removed from his role. For 2022, the arrangement was to wield two race directors – Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich. But complaints against the officiating continued. One of these was the supposed inconsistency in decisions, which was probably amplified considering there were now two race directors.
Freitas was removed as Race Director following the Japanese Grand Prix, where there was a live crane on track in tricky weather conditions. Pierre Gasly was unaware it was there and passed by it at a very fast speed (for the circumstances). He certainly wasn’t pleased – and it reminded him and the F1 world of another incident involving a crane in Suzuka, one that claimed the life of Jules Bianchi.
Another criticism was the deployment of the black-and-orange flags. In this regard, Kevin Magnussen (and consequently Haas) suffered the most, with him being shown the flag three times after the first-lap incidents. Canada, Hungary, and Singapore – where the Dane made his annoyance clear, stating that it was ‘way over the top’. To improve in this regard, the FIA has hired highly-regarded Steve Nielsen (who leaves a role of the same designation at F1) as part of the restructuring of its management.
However, Guenther Steiner, who witnessed his driver getting three black-and-orange flags, still feels that further improvements are needed. Speaking to Motorsport.com, the Italian-born team principal said: “There is still a lot of work to be done, in my opinion. It’s not like everything is sorted now. I think in race control, there is a lot of margin to do better. We saw in the last races [of 2022] there were some decisions taken which I think need to be addressed.”
Guenther Steiner: Haas’ Austin protest against Alpine was ‘on principle’
Guenther Steiner, of course, is particularly referring to Kevin Magnussen’s three black-and-orange flags. This led the team to lodge a protest against Alpine at the United States GP. Fernando Alonso had collided with Lance Stroll, leading him to come into the pits. The particular point of the protest was Alonso’s right-hand mirror moving around before falling off on lap 48. It was deemed unsafe, and the Spaniard was handed a 30-second post-race penalty (which was later overturned).
First, Steiner felt that the numerous black-and-orange flags to Magnussen were “complete nonsense”: “This is not how it should be. We got penalised, and then they changed the rules. Nobody else ever got penalised, and the rule was changed.” then added that Haas protested ‘on principle’: “[Protesting in Austin] was on principle: your system is flawed because the rules are not the same for everybody, and I think how it was handled from race control was not good.”
The hope for everyone (including Steiner) will be that the race control’s decision-making improves in 2023. Faulty decision-making will always attract the most controversy and subsequent reputational damage as well, so it’s important for the FIA to get it right this time around. Niels Wittich is set to remain as Race Director, but FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested that there will be multiple people in the role, once again.
In case you missed it:
- Guenther Steiner looks back at sacking Nikita Mazepin from Haas: “I think we did the right thing”
- “Sometimes one step back is two forwards,” Guenther Steiner gives his two cents on Mick Schumacher’s move to Mercedes
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)