Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has been summoned to the stewards at the Spanish grand prix for comments he made calling for the FIA to invest in making stewarding a full-time professional role.
Steiner was unhappy at the inconsistency shown by the stewards in handing Nico Hulkenberg a time penalty for causing a collision on the opening lap of the Monaco Grand Prix when Haas disputes any contact was made, and then seeing other collisions going unpunished. The team principal asked: “Do we need a different system for the stewards? Because every professional sport has got professionals being referees and stuff like this.
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“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. It’s always a discussion because there’s no consistency.”
While Steiner was speaking in a Haas-organized media session on Thursday, he has been summoned to the stewards at 2:30pm local time in Barcelona for an alleged breach of the FIA International Sporting Code, with the summons referencing three articles.
Those articles relate to:
• “Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally”
• “Any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motor sport and on the values defended by the FIA”
• “Any misconduct towards, but not limited to: license-holders, officials, officers or member of the staff of the FIA”
One of the stewards in Monaco — Felix Holter — is also on duty in Spain but has recused himself from the hearing to avoid a potential conflict of interest.