FIA has cleared Guenther Steiner for two summons, while reprimands him for third after he apologises for his statement against F1 stewards.
Post his comments to media, Haas’ Steiner was summoned by the stewards on Saturday of F1 Spanish GP for ‘alleged breach of Articles 12.2.1.c, 12.2.1.f and 12.2.1.k of the FIA International Sporting Code during a media conference conducted on June 1, 2023′.
In Monaco GP, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was penalised for his Lap 1 moment against Williams’ Logan Sargeant which irked team boss Steiner. Ahead of the Spanish GP, the Italian spoke against the stewarding which was reported by the F1 media delegate to the stewards.
“Lap one: we get a penalty for what I think is not a collision,” said Steiner. “There are other people running into each other during the race – they get the black and white flag. So, I think it’s very inconsistent. Then we look at the accident in Miami between de Vries and Norris, in lap one, that was no collision.
“I think we have to just go back to [the question]: do we need a different system for stewards? Every professional sport has got professionals being referees and stuff like this. F1 is one of the biggest sports in the world, and we still have laymen deciding on the fate of people who invest millions in their careers. And it’s always a discussion because there’s no consistency.
“I think we need to step it up. I think it’s now time. I think we’re discussing this for years and years and we always go back to this. Every other sport has professionals for this: American racing, NASCAR, IndyCar. How many times you hear problems with the stewards or with race director’s decisions? Very rarely, very rarely. But they’re doing it completely differently.
“There are full time people working there. I’m always saying: innocent until proven guilty. And not that I have to be prove that I was innocent, because it doesn’t work for me. That is not how I conduct life,” summed up Steiner. Having met the steward on Saturday during Spanish GP, the matter is solved with a reprimand and no further action.
Steiner did apologise if the comments were hurtful. “Yesterday (Saturday June 3) I attended a Stewards Hearing concerning comments I made during my press conference last Thursday (June 1),” he said in a statement.
“I expressed to the Stewards my disappointment and disagreement with the decision taken by the Monaco Stewards last weekend. 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.”
In case of Articles 12.2.1.c and 12.2.1.f which
Article 12.2.1.c relates to ‘any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any Competition or to the interests of motor sport generally’, while Article 12.2.1.f relates to ‘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 motorsport and on the values defended by the FIA’.
For both, there was no further action, while Steiner was reprimanded for Article 12.2.1.k which refers to ‘any Misconduct towards, but not limited to: licence-holders, officials, officers or member of the staff of the FIA, members of the staff of the Organiser or promoter, members of the staff of the Competitors, suppliers of products or services to (or contractors or subcontractors to) any of the parties listed above; doping control officials or any other person involved in a doping control carried out in accordance with Appendix A’.
Here’s the full FIA statement –
1. Article 12.2.1.k refers to “misconduct” which is defined in the ISC as “..the use of language….which might reasonably be expected or be perceived to…cause offence, humiliation or to be inappropriate”.
2. Mr Steiner’s word “laymen” and his reference to other sports having “professional” personnel could be, and indeed were, perceived to cause offence and in our view reasonably did cause offence not only to the Stewards in Monaco but also to other FIA personnel and many motorsport volunteers.
3. However, the Stewards accept Mr Steiner’s statement during 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.
4. Further Mr Steiner stated his reference to “laymen” was meant to refer to people who worked occasionally and not meant to refer a lack of qualifications or specialisation.
5. Mr Steiner also freely apologised “if anyone was hurt by what I said or misunderstood what I said”. The Stewards accept this apology.
6. 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.
7. 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.
Here’s FIA changing the stewards of Spanish GP
