Team Principal of Haas F1 Team, Guenther Steiner, feels somewhat despondent following what was a poor weekend for the team, but is prepared to look onwards to the next race after the summer break at Spa Francorchamps.
His drivers were hit by cars and penalties at the Hungaroring, with Romain Grosjean‘s race being ended prematurely after contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the first corner, and Kevin Magnussen finishing the race in thirteenth, after he was given a penalty for contact with the same driver.
“A tough Sunday to end a tough weekend to end the first half of the season,” commented Steiner. “For the race, I want to see the positives first. Kevin fought hard and Romain, well there was a mistake on the tire change. The guys who change the tires are under a lot of pressure. It was the right place to happen. Romain wasn’t happy with his car anyway. He was 15th, so there was nothing to be gained. If it’s to happen somewhere, it should happen here.”
Since the race, Steiner has defended Magnussen, both for his driving and for the war of insults that broke out between himself and Hulkenberg in the media pen, calling the German driver a ‘bully’.
“Kevin drove a fantastic race. He defended and got penalized. I don’t fully agree with the penalty. It was very similar to what the same guy (Hulkenberg) did at turn one to our other car. In the end, it is what it is. We would’ve been 11th, which wouldn’t have been in the points anyway. It happened. We need to get over it. It was a tough weekend. Now we go on a bit of a vacation and we come back again and get some points.”
