Haas F1 Team comments on the FIA penalty and the appeal

Haas F1 Team: “If they cannot beat you on the track, they try to beat you in court.”

On September 2nd, Romain Grosjean finished 6th in the Italian Grand Prix. That was his fifth top-10 in the previous six F1 grand prix races.

Renault filed a protest on the machine with the FIA. The protest was successful. The FIA ruled the Haas F1 Team had an illegal floor installed on the Formula One race car.

The FIA rulebook requires: “A 50mm radius (+/-2mm) on each front corner when viewed from directly beneath the car, this being applied after the surface has been defined.”

His 6th place finish was revoked. It was replaced with a DQ. Haas F1 has responded. They are taking the case to the FIA International Court of Appeals.

“We do not agree with the Stewards’ decision to penalize our race team and we feel strongly that our sixth-place finish in the Italian Grand Prix should stand. We are appealing the Stewards’ decision,” team boss Guenther Steiner stated.

Guenther Steiner - Haas F1 Team
Guenther Steiner – Haas F1 Team

With the result in the Itailian Grand Prix, Haas moved passed Renault in the constructors championship, moving up to 4th in team standings. With the DQ in place, Renault has passed them back in the standings. They’ve passed them using the court system.

The bulk of TV money is distributed based on the results of the constructors’ standings. The drivers championship means next to nothing for the F1 teams. Each position in team standings at the end of the year means millions of dollars.

Only the top-10 positions pay points in F1 events. A sisth place run hands 10 points to both the driver and team.

Gunther Steiner didn’t see this one coming. However, there teams are in a battle for millions on the race track. The competition is fierce between the teams.

“I wouldn’t expect it, but sometimes people react this way,” team principal Gunther Steiner said in a Haas F1 release.

“If they cannot beat you on the track, they try to beat you in court. That is what seems to be happening. You have to work hard to be envied. We’d rather work hard for it and fight even more.”

These teams are in a cut throat battle on the race track. Now, the battle has moved beyond the race track.

Sometimes, you have to do that. You take any approach in racing. Is it the right thing to do? I’ll let others determine that.”

“Our people know where they need to put the effort in. We don’t get distracted when we go racing. We try to always get good results in racing and leave the other stuff offline.”

The appeals case will take several weeks. The case will be heard in Paris.

Grosjean recently claimed his best finish with the Haas F1 machine. He ran 4th in the Australian Grand Prix in early July.

Haas F1 drivers
Haas F1 drivers
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Romain Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | F1

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