Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner is fortunately one to speak his mind, but unfortunately that can land him in hot water once in a while.
And that's just what happened this past week, ahead of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
Steiner was unamused by a penalty Nico Hulkenberg received in Monaco, and when convening with the media this past Thursday in Barcelona labeled the stewards as “laymen” and suggested it was time that Formula 1 hire full-time professionals to decide on such matters.
This did not go down well with stewards, who summoned Steiner, and considered a charge of misconduct for causing offense or humiliation of the FIA stewards and other personnel, as is outlined in the International Sporting Code.
In the hearing, Steiner said that referring to “laymen” meant those who worked occasionally, and was not meant to refer to a lack of qualifications, and that his mentioning of professionalism was meant to refer to people who worked in that role as their profession—not that stewards were acting unprofessionally.
Steiner also apologized to the stewards in the event of any offense and this was accepted by the panel.
There was one amusing line whereby the stewards reported that “Mr. Steiner stated that if he had meant to insult or offend anyone, he would have used much different words. The stewards do not dispute this.”
