Steiner appeals to FIA: 'There must be stricter rules for this'

After the Australian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso was given a 20-second time penalty. Guenther Steiner finds the FIA's ruling unclear and thinks there should be stricter rules for defending.

We have seen it before this season, namely at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen defended very hard there, to the displeasure of Yuki Tsunoda, which subsequently caused some commotion. Two weeks later, the incident between Fernando Alonso and George Russell caused the same uproar.

Guenther Steiner thinks there should be stricter rules regarding what is allowed while defending your position. This will then eventually ensure consistency in time penalties as well. Speaking to RACER, the former Haas team boss says he did think Alonso's defensive work was a bit excessive. "I actually was with Checo on the plane back from Melbourne and we had a quick chat about it, and we came to the conclusion that fighting this hard for P6 is a little bit overdoing it. I mean, I know that everybody needs the points, but it’s like, ‘Wow.’ I think we are at the limit."

The stewards' final verdict was far too unclear, according to the Italian. "But also, the stewards’s verdict — you are wrong but you are right — it wasn’t very clear to me. ‘You get the penalty but we don’t know if you should get the penalty.’ It’s like, ‘I give you the penalty but I’m not sure if you’ve done wrong.’ So I think it needs to be a clearer stance, and it needs to be the same for everyone as well."