FIA urged to trust teams over F1 safety

Sam Hall
Thursday 3 November 2022 16:48

Guenther Steiner has urged the FIA to trust Haas' judgement when it comes to safety matters relating to its cars.

Kevin Magnussen has been shown the black-and-orange mechanical warning flag on three occasions this season, forcing him to pit for repairs and ruining his race.

After Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez were permitted to continue with damage in the United States, Haas took its grievances to the FIA by protesting against both drivers.

Both were ultimately dismissed despite Alonso originally being handed a 30-second penalty for driving with only one mirror which directly contravenes the regulations.

Conceding the protests had been invoked to make a point that "we need consistency", Steiner said: "It [safety] is the team’s responsibility.

"Why would a team put a car out there which is not safe? We design a car, we do all of the crash tests. That is the first thing any designer does, making it safe.

“That is all in our responsibility, so why would we do something which we deem is not safe? That is my point.

“And obviously, the judgement from some people is different from others and then, if the mirror is missing, I think that makes it an illegal car because it is in the rules that the car has to have two mirrors. That is a different story."

Steiner questions FIA trust

Magnussen's mandated stops under the black-and-orange flag have all been for a flapping front-wing endplate.

In Mexico, Perez was permitted to continue with similar damage and the component flew off his car after a number of laps.

“But the black-and-orange flag should be the same [for everyone]," added Steiner.

“Twelve years before we got it this year, there was no black-and-orange flag because it was trusted that the teams would look after the safety of their own car. That is what we have to do.

“Can we get it wrong? Sure. But there is no intention to get it wrong. A wishbone can break if you hit a kerb and sometimes you don’t see the damage that is done.

"But if you know that the loads were too high, we retire the car, because it’s the first thing that any guy does is make the driving safe.”