Steiner backs Verstappen: 'Max didn't offend anyone'
Exclusive
- Ludo van Denderen
Guenther Steiner is still one of the most popular figures in Formula 1, even though the Italian is not currently working for one of the ten teams. But he is by no means forgotten, and this is largely due to his participation in the extremely popular series Drive to Survive on Netflix. Anyone who has seen the programme will have seen how Steiner never minces his words and occasionally swears, just like Max Verstappen.
It is now well known that Verstappen has been given a community service penalty by the FIA for using the word 'f***ed' in his description of how Red Bull Racing's car felt in Baku during the official press conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix on Thursday.
Out of anger at the punishment, Verstappen decided to appear at the post-qualifying and race press conferences - as required - but didn't give detailed answers. Verstappen was more talkative only after the official press moments, in informal conversations with the international media. There, he revealed that he thought the punishment was exaggerated because he only talked about his car and did not insult anyone.
Guenther Steiner's reaction
GPblog asked Guenther Steiner how he views the situation, bearing in mind that the Italian is also known to say the occasional swear word. The former Haas F1 team boss backed Verstappen 100 per cent with his response. "I think Max explained it correctly. He did not insult anyone, just used the F-word for a situation," Steiner told GPblog.