Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

Steiner wants Whiting talks over qualifying conditions

Haas Formula 1 team boss Gunther Steiner plans to talk to FIA race director Charlie Whiting about the dangerous conditions that Italian Grand Prix qualifying started in on Saturday.

The crashed car of Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17 is recovered in Q1

Photo by: Sutton Images

The car of Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17 is recovered after crashing
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17
Wet tyre and broken whel on the crashed car of Romain Grosjean, Haas VF-17
Guenther Steiner, Haas F1 Team Team Principal
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17 crash
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team Team VF-17
The crashed car of Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17 is recovered in Q1

Heavy rain at Monza disrupted the F1 timetable all day, with final practice limited to a short burst of running at the end of its scheduled hour, and qualifying red-flagged early in Q1 when Romain Grosjean aquaplaned off the road on the start/finish straight and crashed.

The session did not restart for another two hours and 35 minutes, leading to the first Formula 2 race being delayed and Saturday's GP3 race being cancelled.

Grosjean was furious with the conditions the drivers had to put up with during the first attempt at qualifying, saying race officials "don't listen to us".

Asked what Haas would do next time there are similar conditions, Steiner told Motorsport.com: "I cannot do anything, the race director has to do something, not me.

"We are going to speak about it. I know his job is massively difficult, to find a happy compromise and not to make happen what has today is by no means easy.

"But we need to get better. Romain was not in a corner [when he crashed], this is not to do with driving talent or anything.

"There was a lot of drivers who mentioned that it was too wet, [and that] you cannot see. They shouldn't have started it, in my opinion."

Steiner said Haas was not trying to make excuses for a disappointing qualifying performance, where Kevin Magnussen joined Grosjean in being eliminated in Q1.

"Romain went off on his own – I don't blame anybody for that," he said. "But if it wouldn't have been him, somebody behind him would have gone off.

"I don't want to find that as an excuse for where we are where we are because we are grown ups and we need to live with that. But it isn't ideal because something can happen.

"[The result] is our own doing, we were just not good enough. We were just not on the case enough, we aren't as good as the others, they managed this situation better."

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Alonso says new Monza asphalt not up to F1 standards
Next article Red Bull: No regrets on taking engine penalties

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia