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Guenther Steiner says he was pretty close to sacking one of his drivers!

Guenther Steiner says he was "pretty close" to sacking one of his drivers!

06-01-2020 09:24
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Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner says that he almost sacked one of his drivers following their collision at the British Grand Prix last season. The clash was the latest in a spell of battles that went too far between Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, leading to both drivers retiring from the race.

The team only managed 28 points in the entirety of the season and just two after the summer break, with the car nowhere near competitive enough to run in the top ten.

After a tough few months with poor pace and the whole Rich Energy saga, tensions were high at Haas and Steiner's mood was not helped by the clash at Silverstone.

He told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that he was close to getting rid of one of his drivers, saying: "I was pretty close. As you know, I'm temperamental.

"It was strange for me. I thought I was ready for the meeting, but when I saw them both, I lost it. It was close to something happening.

"We were having such a difficult time in the season already, but if I think back now, we created the problem ourselves.

"I'm not making excuses for the drivers, but there was so much pressure. After Silverstone they asked me to give them clear instructions on what to do in a certain situation, so we got it under control."