F1 – Haas mocks Racing Bulls: “Any team would have done the same thing!” »

No mea culpa for Ayao Komatsu, boss of the American team, who would not change anything about the slowdown strategy adopted in Jeddah if he had to do it again. To the wise…

Published on 21/03/2024 à 15:46

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Haas mocks Racing Bulls: “Any team would have done the same thing!” »

We remember that at the end of Saudi Arabia GP, in Jeddah mid-March 2024, it is a Laurent Mékies, team principal of the Racing Bulls team, not happy at all who had expressed his indignation following the race presented as highly strategic by the management of the team Haas, but which the Frenchman initially saw as obstruction.

« Yuki (tsunoda. Editor's note) was fighting for a P10 place, declared the RB boss furious. He was overtaken by (Kevin. Editor’s note) Magnussen who cut the track to get there, who then slowed down the entire peloton to allow his teammate (Nico Hulkenberg. Editor's note) to obtain a sufficient refueling window to go to the stand in front of all of us. »

Same story from RB sporting director Alan Permane, for whom Haas’ slowdown strategy was “ difficult to accept ". " Magnussen, said Alan Permanente, went off the track to deliberately place himself in front of Yuki and then slowed him down by 2 seconds per lap, which allowed Hülkenberg, who had not yet stopped, to create a gap and, of course, refuel in front of all the cars behind. »

In Melbourne, ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Ayao Komatsu, director of the Haas team who had not yet spoken on the issue, wanted to clarify things. “ I accept the criticism regarding Tsunoda's overtaking when leaving the track, he explained. We just didn't know it. Kevin should have returned the position, and we should have asked him if he hadn't complied. » On the other hand, not the slightest regret concerning the fact that the Dane adopted a false rhythm and held back his opponents.

« This is what we had to do, explains the Japanese manager without batting an eyelid. Any team would have done the same thing, and if anyone claims it's unsportsmanlike, that's complete bullshit. »

Returning to the incident with Tsunoda, he concluded that the team would learn from this error and take appropriate measures internally to better monitor the situation on the track. “ We have set up a few people to follow each driver at all times, underlined the manager. No matter who the driver faces, their comments will be listened to. If we had seen Tsunoda's onboard footage, we would have acted immediately. »

Unless it falls within the mission of the FIA, the competition judge…