"Wouldn’t even apologise": Haas team principal annoyed by race director's actions in the 2022 F1 US GP

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner recently expressed how he was not happy with the race director's behavior at the 2022 United States GP. During the race, a penalty was given to Fernando Alonso after Haas submitted all the evidence on how his car had a loose and eventually missing rear view mirror.

However, that penalty was overturned when Alpine pointed out that the appeal was submitted 30 minutes after the deadline had passed.

However, Steiner later claimed that the race director, Niels Wittich, gave Haas a one-hour window to submit the documents for the appeal. In his latest book, Surviving to Drive, he expressed his thoughts on how he expected an apology from the race director. Instead, Wittich did not admit that he made the mistake, which made Steiner even angrier. He wrote:

“When the race director says you have an hour, you take his word for it. What really annoys me is that when we had a meeting about it, the race director denied saying what we thought he’d said and wouldn’t even apologise. And he’s the race director, for f**k’s sake! If he’d said, ‘Okay guys, look, I’m afraid I f**ked up’, we’d have been okay about it.”

F24

@Formula24hrs

Guenther Steiner:

"It's frustrating that the race director doesn't know the rules."

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Guenther Steiner:

"It's frustrating that the race director doesn't know the rules."

Haas essentially complained to the FIA regarding technical infractions in Fernando Alonso's car. However, due to the time confusion, the stewards eventually retracted the 30-second penalty.

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Haas team boss admits that the midfield table is extremely competitive in F1

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner recently spoke about how tight the midfield table is in the 2023 F1 season. He explained how every driver below P6 is in the midfield battle and how there is essentially no one at the bottom of the table.

Although Steiner is positive that Haas is at the upper end of the midfield table, he is well aware that it can change if they mess up a single race. He said (via motorsportweek):

“As we’ve discussed, there are only a few points available for the midfield teams, and everyone is in that midfield, from P6 down, it’s all midfield, there is nobody behind.”

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@JunaidSamodien_

Steiner: "I think we are in the midfield, the upper end of it, but every race could see a change where each team is. The only thing to do at the moment is to work hard and try not to make mistakes because they will cost dearly."

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Steiner: "I think we are in the midfield, the upper end of it, but every race could see a change where each team is. The only thing to do at the moment is to work hard and try not to make mistakes because they will cost dearly."

#F1

He added:

“We must take every opportunity. I think we are in the midfield, the upper end of it, but every race could see a change where each team is. The only thing to do at the moment is to work hard and try not to make mistakes because they will cost dearly.”

The team currently sits in seventh position with seven points, one point and one position below Alpine. Nico Hulkenberg has been a great addition as the German driver is scoring a lot of points and leading the team forward. Only time will tell how the American outfit will perform for the rest of the season.

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