Guenther Steiner blasts McLaren for not defending Oscar Piastri
Guenther Steiner left unimpressed with McLaren's approach to Oscar Piastri's penalty.
Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner has criticised McLaren for not challenging the penalty issued to Oscar Piastri at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Piastri’s championship hopes suffered another blow as he finished fifth in Brazil after being hit with a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes at Turn 1 when the race resumed following an early Safety Car.
The FIA stewards’ decision to penalise Piastri has divided opinion in the F1 paddock. Even Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was taken out in the three-car collision, refused to pin all the blame on the McLaren driver.
Steiner branded McLaren as his “w******” of the race during the latest episode of The Red Flags Podcast as he called out the British squad for not contesting the punishment imposed on Piastri.
"Why you don't go there and at least say something to the stewards?” Steiner said.
“Even Charles Leclerc said 'I mean, it wasn't Oscar's fault.' If the other driver, who was taken out, says, 'Hey, nothing to do with him. Maybe I was a little bit too optimistic.' He didn't say that because he wouldn't admit to that one. But you know, three wide.
"At some stage with all these rules and interpretation, and 10 seconds instead of five and all that stuff, where does racing end? We just line up and we get away. Everybody gets away like they started. Make sure that you don't even look at anybody because you get a penalty. But the fans don't like that.”
Steiner would have fought Piastri’s case
Steiner insisted he would have fought Piastri’s corner regardless of whether he would have been successful because he believes it is important for overall team morale.
“I would have gone there and I would have flipped out,” he explained.
"It's psychological as well. Obviously, I overdid it sometimes, which doesn't help. But then stating the facts, it shows that you know what you're doing. You show this and this is wrong. You give your point of view. Will you win it? You don't know. But you always have to try. That's my opinion.
"And as you say, not only the drivers, the whole team, the people at home who have to come in on Monday to work again, they know that everybody's trying their best. It's not like we let it go.”
Lando Norris is now 24 points clear of Piastri with three races to go after claiming consecutive victories in Mexico City and Brazil.
In this article
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
