Steiner blames both drivers for “unacceptable” first-lap clash

2019 British Grand Prix

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner strongly rebuked both his drivers after the first-lap collision which led to both of them retiring from the British Grand Prix.

Steiner had previously warned Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen after they clashed during the Spanish Grand Prix. He said their latest collision compromised the team’s efforts to learn more about the problems with its VF-19 chassis.

“It’s not acceptable what happens,” said Steiner. “I was pretty clear with them after Barcelona what not to do.

“We are in a difficult position at the moment trying to find out to get the car back on track. Everybody works hard like hell and then we’ve got a chance when it seems like we’ve got our long runs and we are OK, we crash into each other at turn five. It’s just not acceptable.”

He revealed he told the drivers in Spain the team would intervene if it felt either driver had taken position from the other unfairly.

“In Barcelona I said if you are [in the] right and you know you lose the position, lose the position,” said Steiner. “Then I get it back to you.”

“The clear instruction was even if someone had to give up, if he’s right, you give up, and then you sort it out later on in the race. That was the instruction.”

Steiner has not ruled out imposed stricter rules on his drivers to prevent them tangling again in future. The pair also collided on the first lap of last year’s British Grand Prix.

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37 comments on “Steiner blames both drivers for “unacceptable” first-lap clash”

  1. RocketTankski
    14th July 2019, 21:06

    Replace Grosjean and Kevin with Ocon and Maldonado. Or that American guy.

    1. Maldonado?!
      His name must never be named in F1 ever!

      Though I agree that Grosjean needs a replacement. After his infamous “ban” he seemed to have sorted out his head… but looks like it didn’t last. And unless he does something quick about this… he might find himself without a seat.

  2. Another quote from Steiner today…”The best that our drivers could bring to the battle was a shovel – to dig the hole we’re in even deeper.” Things are a bit grim at Haas these days.

    1. the part I was looking for when I opened the article

  3. Wouldn’t kill them to have better drivers. The duo they have is probably the most inconsistent one of the grid. Their highs re very high but their lows border the ridicule.

    1. If it wasn’t for Williams (Kubica in particular), I would rate Haas as the weakest driver line up on the grid hands down.

      1. Russell is compensation enough

        Haas has the worst driver line up

    2. Ferrari’s duo hasn’t been that consistent either

      *takes cover*

      1. @johnmilk not but Vettel, even in his dry spell, is just so much better than both Grosjean and Magnussen put together

        1. I know @fer-no65 but you know me, I had to have a go at a joke, even if 90% of them are bad

  4. They surely have to get rid of Grosjean after this season. I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t instead give the seat to someone like Ocon.

    1. @mashiat Ocon is already taken I think.

      1. @johnrkh By which team? There’s no place for him at Mercedes or Racing Point, and I’m not sure Williams can afford to not have a pay driver alongside Kubica. Mercedes have stated that they would be willing to cut ties with Ocon if it enabled him to get a seat, and I believe they may have to. And with George Russell already waiting in the wings, they already have another talented young driver ready to take over in a few years if necessary. Ocon’s only realistic options are Haas or Renault (if they drop Hulkenberg)

        1. @mashiat Bottas only has a 12 month contract, Ocon who is very highly regarded especially at Merc and in particularly by Wolff. Probably only missed out on the second Merc seat due to the timing of the Ricciardo move, he is in the box seat for next year. Toto Wolf will do whats best for the team, Bottas is a very good driver but he can’t match Hamilton. Ocon most likely at Merc next yr Russel 2021 at Merc.

          1. @johnrkh I don’t agree personally. Bottas has done enough for Toto Wolff to give him another 1-year deal for 2020. He fact that he can pick up the pieces on the days that Hamilton is not quite on the paces, in addition to the fact that he doesn’t complain much, keeps things clean with Hamilton and is willing to put the team first makes him their ideal number 2. By bringing in Ocon, Mercedes will now have a driver who isn’t going to be less of a known quantity, will make mistakes due to his relative inexperience and will likely be less accomodating of Hamilton and his team, as was shown with his constant battles with Perez. Mercedes are probably targeting Verstappen for 2021 anyways, and it wouldn’t at all surprise me if we see a Verstappen-Russell pairing at Mercedes 3-5 years from now.

  5. If I were sponsoring this team, I’d be looking to get out! :)

    I’ve only seen one replay, and to me it looked like Grosjean slid out wide into Magnussen, but seems like the team don’t see the blame on one side.

    1. GtisBetter (@)
      14th July 2019, 21:54

      Not to the press. These things are probably handled internally.

    2. Grosjean was forced to run a line too tight because of Magnussen divebombing. Most drivers would not pull such a move on another team’s driver, let alone their team mate. Slip stream him down the straight and brake later, but do not force your teammate away from the racing line in a high-speed corner. Ludicrous.

    3. But you’re not sponsoring the team, Rich Energy are, and they have total confidence in Haas.

      1. Now sponsored by Netflix…

  6. Grosjean is as laughable as Jacques Villeneuve was at the end of his career.

    Put someone exciting in that seat!

    Magnusson is a decent driver and needs pushing by a harder team mate.to get.the best out of him.

    1. Magnussen is no better than Grosjean.
      Probably the worst pair of drivers? Before or after Perez / Stroll is the question.
      I hope they both get replaced next year. Unfortunately Haas will probably need to keep one of the two for reference.

      1. @spoutnik, I have to agree there, because quite a few of the former drivers commentating on the race noted that Magnussen was putting his car in a poor position to begin with – he was putting himself in a position where he would have to cut back across the racing line, so it was not a great move from that point of view.

  7. I agree with everyone else on the planet except apparently Steiner….both drivers must go!

  8. Steiner is all that Toto isn’t

  9. I don’t know what’s worse …. Haas’ understanding of their car built by Dallara / Ferrari OR the performance of their drivers

    1. you can say that it is hard to understand the car because he was built by Dallara, and you can even say that Dallara copied parts of the Ferrari. But saying that Ferrari played a role in that is proper tin foil hat theory

  10. They need to revamp that lineup. Those two do not work well together. Magnussen is too aggressive and selfish, Grosjean is too unreliable. I’d have a go at Ocon for 2020, coupled with some Ericsson money unless they can snag someone like Latifi from F2.

    1. To follow your logic; aggressive and selfish drivers should be sacked? Verstappen, Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel, Magnussen carry these attributes.. Du you feel that any of the former in that mention should be replaced, just because of aggressive and selfish driving?

      I’m pretty sure, that any race driver are aggresive and selfish but due to the lack of good results then it is a no-no. BUT, if he was having good results then it’s suddenly impressive and okay. I don’t follow that logic.

      1. @jesbau You just named 1 top 2 driver and 3 very good ones alongside Magnussen? Magnussen is woeful. He cannot even wipe the floor with someone as bad as Grosjean.

        1. Hi Dan,
          As much i appreciate your oppinion I must also point out that you missed the point. Have even read the comment? I doubt it. You read some names and commented on that.
          You don’t like Magnussen, obviously – but why don’t you just say so? The only thing I pointed out was the two reasons given to kick MAG out, but keep the others and that makes no sense.

  11. Grosjean has Formula E written all over him. Just hurry up and demote the fool already, tired of his antics.

  12. Haas needs a reboot. Current driver pair is not working. But they also need to rectify deficiencies in the car which are only exacerbated by mistakes of their drivers. Its cyclical.

  13. Magnussen isn’t bad but he can’t even beat Grosjean consistently. That tells things.

    Grosjan isn’t bad, but these days he has been underwhelming for like 80% of the time. The remaining 20% is when he puts his act together and blews Kevin away easily.

    Grosjean needs to go, but wouldn’t be bad if they change both drivers.

    1. Mag barely beated Palmer who Hulk easily dominated. Haas lost a lot of points and money keeping 2 drivers that are average and prone to crash.

  14. Drop one and give money to Alonso for the remainder of the season.

  15. Two crash-test dummies went to the British Grand Prix … Why is Grosjean still in F1? Why is Haas still in F1?

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