Guenther Steiner summoned to stewards following criticism of F1 officials

By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Barcelona

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has been summoned to the stewards following his outburst at the standard of officiating in Formula One.

Steiner, 58, described a five-second penalty handed to Nico Hulkenberg at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix as “completely wrong” before calling for an overhaul of the FIA’s current model.

Four officials from a rotating pool steward every Grand Prix and at least one of those will be a former driver who has raced at a competitive level.

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Contact between Hulkenberg and Sargeant 💥

Hulkenberg has been handed a 5-second penalty#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rnE9lr9YGj

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 28, 2023

But speaking ahead of Sunday’s race in Spain, Steiner, who now faces a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute, said: “Every professional sport has professional referees.

“F1 is one of the biggest sports in the world and we still have laymen deciding on the fate of people that invest millions in their careers.

“There is no consistency. We need to step it up.”

Hulkenberg was penalised following an aggressive overtake on Logan Sargeant on the first lap in Monte Carlo.

Hulkenberg made his way ahead of the Williams driver without appearing to make contact.

“Nico comes from the inside, is in front, dives into the corner, but I can’t see a collision,” said Steiner, who will face the stewards at 2:30pm local time (1:30pm UK).

“A collision is touching, no? That’s what the definition is. We’re trying to get it explained because I think the decision was completely wrong.”