20/07/2020
NEWS STORY
When it was revealed, shortly after yesterday's race, that Haas was under investigation, it won't have only been drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean and the team's many fans who feared the worst.
Already disillusioned with the sport, a penalty that took away Magnussen's ninth-place finish, could prove to be the tipping point for Gene Haas as he mulls his team's future.
Even the subsequent decision from the stewards, which saw Magnussen demoted to tenth and Magnussen sixteenth after both were handed time penalties, was somewhat ambiguous.
"The Stewards determined that the team instructed the driver to pit," it read. "The team could not prove that one of the exemptions made under paragraph A. 2. a) to g) of the Technical Directive 011-17 was applicable.
"Therefore, the Stewards consider there is breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided."
Asked to explain, if only for the benefit of Gene Haas, Race Director, Michael Masi said: "There was a technical directive that came out in 2017 clarifying what communications the team can make to the drivers on the formation lap, which relates to Article 27.1 of the sporting regulations, which is that the driver must drive the car alone, and unaided.
"Part of that summons is that both drivers were called in by their engineers to change tyres on the formation lap, which is not permitted within that technical directive that was issued at the time about what can and can't.
"In essential terms, the only communication that can be made with the driver during the formation lap is to do with safety matters, so if it's an issue of imminent safety, then that communication can take place."
Viewers will have heard Daniil Kvyat state that he wanted to pit for slicks at the end of the formation lap, this was the driver's call not the team's, and even then he opted to pit at the end of the first lap instead.
Check out our Race Day gallery from Budapest, here.