Having previously claimed that Renault's protests of Romain Grosjean's floor at Monza was driven by jealousy, Haas team boss Guenther Steiner now insists the move was unsporting and the result of the French team being leapfrogged by its American rivals in the standings.

According to the Italian, there is an unwritten rule in F1 that sees teams warn one another in advance of a race if they are going to subsequently submit a technical protest.

"My opinion is that for a long time there was not a protest after the race," he told reporters in Singapore, "it's a long, long time since (it happened).

"So, I'm a little bit surprised," he continued, "but then I'm not.

"I wouldn't have done the same," he said. "I would have done what other people have done before. But Renault is in a position that they need to make sure they are not overtaken for fourth position, and I think they thought that they need to do something otherwise they finish fifth."

Asked if he was hinting at a 'gentlemen's agreement', he replied: "Absolutely. They can say before the race 'if this is not fixed, we are going to protest you'. That's what I was talking about because it was before my time the last time this was done.

"I don't know why they did it, but it's one of these things. Renault did what it needed to do, but I think a lot of people have questioned it internally and they are right to.

"It's a mix of taking regulations, interpretation, ambiguity and information, it's very complex," he said of the appeal, which is scheduled for early November. "I think the stewards didn't understand what we tried to explain. They disqualified us but at the court of appeal they have a better understanding and more time for us to explain how it went down.

"It's 50/50, it could go both ways," he admitted, when asked how he thinks the appeal might go. "I would never say I am confident of winning because you never know what is happening. We have no control on the decision, you can do the best you can with your lawyers and your technical people to explain what actually happened, the whole process and why we ended up where we were and why they got it wrong. But then again, I'm not on the court of appeal. I cannot decide, so I would say 50/50 so it could go both ways."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 14/09/2018 13:16

"Oh well, maybe Max can join Haas and they can sympathise with one-another about how inconvenient it is to have to obey the same rules everyone else does..."

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2. Posted by PlayF1, 13/09/2018 23:56

"Are Rules the Rules ... or not?

Hmmm... that depends.
Sometimes yes, but sometimes no.

We get many situations where a rule is broken, but nothing was gained, so it is overlooked.

What about feasibility of compliance within a timescale?
Ha!
Another team managed to comply, therefore it must have been feasible for the HAAS team - yes?

Well actually, for that other team, the work perhaps slotted into their pre-planned work schedule.

HAAS stated that they would make the change, but that they simply couldn't do it in the allotted time.

Clearly, that judgement is a fine line; particularly if (watch out - potential conspiracy theory coming) this was a well judged exercise.

You know (shh!) ... we've got them ... they've said they can't do it.
"but we can't either"
Yes you can.

Hahaha - tin foil hats and a decent Twilight Zone soundtrack ;)

So did the offending component produce the impressive result?
Methinks that is unlikely.

Either way, honestly ... HAAS had this coming to them.
Not only have they leapfrogged the development of other cars (no comment on how), but one of the fastest (highly strung) drivers on the grid has got himself dialled in.

If F1 was part of the Goodfellas script, I don't think that anybody would doubt that this was a 'whack job' waiting to happen.

Thankfully, this is real life, and it was just a common or garden 'lodged complaint'.

Damn!
It was all looking so good for an intriguing Black Op - cut to Daniel Craig (not Joe Pesci) striding through St James Market.

:)"

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3. Posted by Barslug, 13/09/2018 23:23

"Protesting is not unsporting Guenther. Cheating is. "

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4. Posted by ESTM PRFT, 13/09/2018 20:31

"Not enough "Check" before "Checkmate"?
"

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5. Posted by Elf Team Tyrrell, 13/09/2018 19:29

"Another well known phrase that they should take note of is......"If you cant do the time, don't do the crime". They were warned, they got caught and are squealing because they have been caught. Man up Hass, you are making yourselves look stupid.
Actually, Ive just thought of another one....."The apple never falls far from the tree". They are a B team of one of the worst teams for cheating/bending the rules!"

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6. Posted by FQITW, 13/09/2018 15:38

"So the way I see this is that the HAAS team was told by the FIA that its floor was iffy and liable to protest from other teams but went ahead and used it anyway. The floor was protested (rightly) and HAAS is upset. OK, but they have been caught - that’s a fact.

After all their previous righteous indignation over the last few days to now plead that had Renault protested at the beginning of the meeting they would have changed the floor is surreal in its naivety.
I don’t think Renault (or any other team for that matter) is in the business of making their competitors’ life easy.

I like & admire the HAAS but this is going nowhere.

Themselves foot shot in the. (Reorganise into a well-known phrase or saying)
"

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Steiner: Renault protest unsporting

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