Günther Steiner challenges the stewards: "If you don't know, don't give a penalty."

Günther Steiner had already boarded his flight home when the final penalties for the Miami Grand Prix were announced. Approximately two and a half hours after the checkered flag, the first decisions were revealed—an eternity for the former director of Haaswho was quick to seize upon it in the podcast The red flags : "I think there needs to be a time limit. If you don't know, you know what? Don't give a penalty."

The case that particularly provoked a reaction from the person who now owns Tech3 in MotoGP is the one from Max VerstappenHe was ultimately penalized five seconds after the race for crossing the white line at the pit exit—a penalty that had no impact on his final result. The stewards justified their delay by citing a lack of video evidence at the time of the incident, explaining that they preferred to wait for better footage. The incident, noted at 1:14 PM (local time), was finally penalized at 5:46 PM, more than three and a half hours later.

For Günther Steiner, this type of reasoning does not hold up: "As for crossing a white line, what is there to contest? Either it happened, or it didn't. There are cameras, and then the team always has the option to file a complaint. Before, after, in three days, it will always be the same thing."

The role of the commissioners called into question

Beyond the Verstappen case, the Italian directly questions the very mission of the stewards. "What do they do during the race? The stewards aren't there to watch it. They're there to make decisions about things that go wrong," he asserts. His proposal is radical: "They should cut the [TV broadcast of the] race and ask the stewards to analyze this situation, to examine what happened at this point, to look into this issue, to make this decision and move on, rather than just standing there watching. What I mean is that watching the race shouldn't, in my opinion, be part of their job."

The problem is not new. During the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, following a protest byAston MartinThe FIA ​​had published a list of a dozen additional penalties imposed on eight drivers after the race for exceeding track limits — sanctions that altered the standings by dropping Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton et Pierre Gasly from one position each, thereby raising Lando Norris (now 4th), Fernando Alonso (5th), George Russell (7th) and Lance stroll (9th). An episode that revealed the limits of a system where the final result can be altered long after everyone has left the circuit, and which also sparked a heated controversy in the paddock.

The Miami 2026 case is consistent with a strategy adopted by the FIA ​​for this season. According to available information, the longer delays observed this year were agreed upon in advance with the drivers and teams to allow the stewards more time to gather evidence before making a decision. This decision, made in the interest of rigor, has unwelcome side effects for those following the competition live—and even more so for those who have already packed their bags.

Late, and sometimes unfair, penalties

The former Haas boss also defended Charles Leclerc, penalized twenty seconds for cutting several corners on the last lap without justifiable reason, while his Classic Ferrari for sale The car was visibly damaged after a spin followed by a minor collision. Günther Steiner believes the penalty is disproportionate to the circumstances. "If he had stopped his car there, a safety car would have come out. He tried to avoid that. I don't think what he did was dangerous. Twenty seconds is definitely too long. It was an excessive verdict."

His criticisms didn't stop there. The Tech3 co-owner expressed deeper doubts about the transparency of the decision-making process, believing that the decisions made in Miami gave the impression that the commissioners "were playing with the race results"Strong words, which revive an old debate on the readability and consistency of FIA jurisprudence — a debate that Miami 2026 is far from having closed.

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