Haas boss Guenther Steiner has been fined €7,500 by the FIA and warned that any future violation could lead to a harsher sanction, after his radio outburst in Russia.
Kevin Magnussen was hit with a five-second time penalty for a bollard transgression at the Sochi Autodrom, prompting an irate Steiner to radio his driver after the chequered flag.
Steiner told Magnussen that “if we didn’t have a stupid idiotic steward we would be eighth. You know who is the steward. You know him. It is always the same. He just does not get any more intelligent.”
Steiner was accused of breaching two articles of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, relating to “any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competitor or to the interests of motorsport generally” and “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers.”
The FIA stated that the message was broadcast to the public and has since been carried by a number of media outlets in both print and audio form.
Stewards from Russia referred the matter to the panel in Japan because “certain members” of Haas had already left the circuit in Sochi, while the conflict of interest was also a concern.
Steiner met the stewards at Suzuka on Friday and confirmed that “his comment was related only to a single Steward of the Russian Grand Prix panel. He didn’t intend to single out other Stewards of that panel.
“Therefore, he has no objection to the present panel hearing this case, even though the Chairman was also the Chairman at the Russian Grand Prix.
“During the hearing Mr. Steiner said that his radio transmission happened in the heat of the moment after a hotly contested race by his drivers.
“In retrospect, he regretted his choice of words used at the time. He did not intend for his words to reflect unfavourably on the FIA officials of the event and the championship.
“Nevertheless, the affected radio communication as transmitted at the time is an insult to the stewards of the event and calls into question both the skills and the integrity of those stewards.
“Such statements harm the reputation of motorsport in general, the FIA in particular, and call into question the professionalism of the officials of the FIA.
“While any factual criticism of steward panel decisions is always welcomed in private discussions with that panel, public personal attacks against individual officials are totally inappropriate and will not be accepted.
“The wording used by Mr. Steiner has caused moral injury to FIA officials, was prejudicial to the interests of motorsport and therefore shall be deemed to be a breach of the rules as defined in Articles 12 1.1.c and 12.1.1.f of the International Sporting Code.
“As a person holding a FIA Super License, Mr. Steiner is subject to penalisation by a fine according to Articles 12.1.4, 12.2.1, and 12.4.1 of the International Sporting Code.”
“Since no penalties have been imposed on Mr. Steiner for similar behaviour in the past, a fine of the amount imposed is considered appropriate.
“However, in the event of future violations, it may become necessary to consider whether a team should be penalised, along with any individual involved, with harsher sanctions.”
