Guenther Steiner Calls Out Favoritism in F1 After Lewis Hamilton Incident at Saudi Arabian GP

Haas driver Nikita Mazepin was forced to take avoiding action during the last phase of the practice session in Jeddah. Lewis Hamilton impeded Mazepin on the blind turn 8 when the Russian was on a flyer. Consequently, Mazepin had to go around kerbs to save the wreckage. Hamilton escaped a penalty for the incident and was given a reprimand by the Stewards.

Although the Russian was of the opinion that Hamilton should not be given a grid penalty, Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner called out the authorities for their failure to sanction the Brit.

Steiner called out the bias towards Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton was not sanctioned for impeding Mazepin for what the FIA called “a failure in communication by the team.” Following that, the Haas driver told that Hamilton texted him apologizing for the incident. However, Steiner didn’t sit right with the fact that the Mercedes driver simply walked off with an official warning. He believes that there is underlying favoritism towards the top teams, in this case, Mercedes.

“I don’t think conversely we would have come out with a fine, as happened to Mercedes. We would have received five positions on the grid and that would not have changed anything for us. In the position we are in at the moment, we are not listened to,” said the American team boss as reported by Formulapassion.

He further argued for appointing permanent commissioners. “For a long time, I have said that permanent stewards would be good, but many people don’t think it is a good idea and there is debate. However, I’m not angry about what happened, because we can’t go beyond the last place ”.

Mazepin brushed off the incident

The driver further said that he wishes Hamilton the best for the title fight. “I really like Lewis, and I really wish him all the best that I can in his title fight. I wouldn’t want him to be penalized for something that was together with me,” said Mazepin as reported by Planetf1.

He downplayed any further action on the Briton. Further on, he says he hopes that Hamilton has a better qualifying session. “Lewis has been very nice and we sent each other texts about that. I just hoped that he had a good qualifying and he did as always, so that’s the main thing.”

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is all warmed up to witness this much-awaited penultimate race of the season. Lewis Hamilton is sitting on pole alongside Valtteri Bottas in second and Max Verstappen in third place.

Who will win the inaugural Jeddah GP? Tell us your predictions.

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