Grosjean and Magnussen’s driving 'not acceptable' says furious Steiner

Haas aren’t having a great time of it this season, the American outfit having the speed in qualifying but being nowhere come race day. At Silverstone, there was a glimmer that things might improve after Friday running, but in the end they never had the chance to find out as Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean came together on the first lap in a collision that ultimately ended both of their races. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Team Boss Guenther Steiner was none too pleased to say the least...

Magnussen pulled alongside Grosjean around the outside of the left-handed Turn 5, with the duo banging wheels on the exit. Both continued after pitting that lap, but Magnussen was in again on lap six and Grosjean three laps later, with both calling it a day.

Team Principal Steiner was furious with his drivers, especially as they missed out on an opportunity to find out whether they had made progress on understanding their long run pace issues, and called them into his office straight after the race. It came after they clashed in Barcelona and were reminded that it is unacceptable for them to come together.

“It was a very disappointing race for us,” said Steiner. “I’m just stating the obvious here. The best that our drivers could bring to the battle was a shovel – to dig the hole we’re in even deeper. We need to go back, regroup, and see what we do in future.

“Both of them [are in trouble], it is not acceptable what happened. I was pretty clear with them after Barcelona, what not to do. In the end, we are in a difficult position at the moment, how to get the car work on track. Everyone works hard like hell. Then when we get a chance, and our long runs look OK, we crash into each other on Turn 5. It’s not acceptable.”

Steiner said his meeting with Grosjean and Magnussen was short - “to explain something like this, I don’t think you need a lot of time” - and added he would take some time to think before deciding what he will do next.

“I don’t have the solution, I need to sleep on it,” he said. “I need to calm down, there’s no point for me to sit down with anybody at the moment. I need to wind down and I will come up with a solution, I normally come up with solutions how to go forward, that’s my job, and whatever they are, I will push them too.

“We’re a team, and everyone needs to work for the team, and not for himself. I’m the first one to work for double the time like I did maybe three or four months ago. It doesn’t bother me. I want everybody to be steering in the same direction. When I saw it on TV, I couldn’t almost believe it. There are two cars running into each other and it’s us two.”

Haas failed to score points for the fourth successive race. It was also the first time both cars have retired from a Grand Prix in 2019.