Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has been reprimanded for the language he used to refer to stewards after the decisions made during the race in Monaco.
Steiner was unhappy at Nico Hulkenberg’s penalty for causing a collision when overtaking Logan Sargeant on the opening lap, saying: “F1 is one of the biggest sports in the world and we still have laymen deciding on the fate of people that invest millions in their careers”.
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The FIA took exception to the comments and summoned Steiner on Saturday, with the stewards delivering a verdict on Sunday that they feel he used language that constitutes “misconduct” as it was “perceived to cause offense and in our view reasonably did cause offense not only to the stewards in Monaco but also to other FIA personnel and many motorsport volunteers.”
Steiner made clear in the hearing that “his reference to professionalism was meant to refer to people who worked in a role as their profession and not that the stewards were acting unprofessionally,” and that “his reference to ‘laymen’ was meant to refer to people who worked occasionally and not meant to refer a lack of qualifications or specialization.”
While the stewards accepted his apology for any offense caused, the decision noted that Steiner also “stated that if he had meant to insult or offend anyone he would have used much different words. The stewards do not dispute this.”
Concluding the decision, the stewards added:
“The stewards note that any party has the right to disagree with any determination of the stewards of an event, however are strongly of the view that such disagreement should, and can, be expressed respectfully.”
Steiner later issued a statement of his own, apologizing if any individual was upset by his comments.
“I expressed to the stewards my disappointment and disagreement with the decision taken by the Monaco stewards last weekend,” Steiner said. “The stewards informed me that they had no issue with people disagreeing with decisions but were more concerned about the interpretation that had been placed on some of my comments.
“I explained to the stewards that I had not intended to offend anyone and that my use of certain words could have been open to misinterpretation or misunderstood by some people.
“I told the stewards that I apologized if my statements were misunderstood or caused hurt to anyone as that was not my intention. I repeat that apology here.”