Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is the latest individual to give his verdict on the massive controversy that took place at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. Following some highly contentious decisions from the stewards, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to his maiden title by winning the season finale in Abu Dhabi on that occasion.
The outcome of the race created such a polarizing and toxic environment between rival F1 fans that some huge changes were made in the personnel among the stewards and race control. The most important change amongst these was the axing of former F1 race director Michael Masi.
‘I was too busy focusing on a Russian’: Guenther Steiner on Abu Dhabi GP 2021 controversy
Guenther Steiner has revealed in his book that he was too busy focused on his team during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP that he does not have an opinion on the controversy that took place. “I was too busy concentrating on a Russian who didn’t finish the race and a German who was in fourteenth,” he explained (as quoted by Mirror Sport).
However, he did admit that the directions provided by the race director were ‘very confusing’. “I remember sitting on the pit wall listening to the orders from the race director and thinking, ‘What the hell is happening here,” he added.
After giving his verdict on the controversy, Steiner hilariously admitted that it was ‘entertaining’ nonetheless for him to watch ‘poor’ Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff ‘almost get a heart attack’. He then ended his remarks by stating that this is an incident of the past and so everyone must move on.
Haas has a decent start to the 2023 season
Guenther Steiner will be a relieved man as Haas has had a decent start to the 2023 season. Both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg have so far scored points for the team.
After both drivers failed to score points in the season opener in Bahrain, Kevin Magnussen finally got the first points for Haas by finishing tenth in Saudi Arabia. Nico Hulkenberg carried forward this momentum to the next race in Australia as he finished a fantastic seventh to score six points for the team.
Haas’ seven points from the season so far places them seventh in the championship, just a point behind Alpine and five points behind fifth-placed McLaren.
