Guenther Steiner is undoubtedly one of the most exciting characters in the F1 paddock. He has been known for several erratic moments, and has also been criticized a lot by the community, especially since he sacked Mick Schumacher. However, one entity he doesn’t want to mess with is the FIA. He spoke about this when he met with Craig Slater of Sky Sports F1 over Christmas lunch.
The FIA recently increased the fines in F1, and as per the standard, it reaches well over $1 million. This sharp rise was not popular among people in F1. Almost all drivers and team principals publicly stated that the new system for paying fines seemed ridiculous.
Speaking about this, the Haas boss said, “Leave me out of that now with a penalty of a million. I don’t want to be the first one there you know.”
What Steiner didn’t want to talk about is the ongoing FIA vs F1 clash. This fight involves Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie. The FIA is investigating the duo for a potential ‘conflict in interest’.
The FIA decided to hold an internal investigation after receiving a dubious report from an insider. The investigation was based on a piece of confidential information that Wolff shared during the meeting of the team principals. This information could have come only from Susie Wolff reportedly, because she heads F1 Academy.
However, the FIA backed down from the investigation soon after all the teams cleared themselves of not making any complaints against the Mercedes boss and his wife. On the other hand, Steiner also shared that the two bodies [FIA and FOM] need to sort the problems out. Otherwise, this might hurt the business, which is in a good place now.
Guenther Steiner’s thoughts on the prospect of women drivers joining F1
Guenther Steiner believes that women can make it into F1, the pinnacle of motorsport. But this is just the beginning, and the process needs to be a lot longer than what is it now. The Haas boss said that it can’t be for one or two years, it has to be for decades.
He also went on to give an example where he said that thousands of boys start racing at a very young age, which is not the case for girls. Therefore, he asked for a reality check, but also at the same time claimed that it was a good starting point.
Notably, the FIA sanctioned F1 Academy for women that gives them a global platform in the world of motorsports. Susie Wolff is the head of this series and has aimed to take it to new heights. Furthermore, the F1 Academy and its drivers also get into the limelight as happened recently when seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton visited them recently.
