Appearing on The Red Flags podcast, the former Haas team principal believes what happened was an indirect result of the early-race incident involving Liam Lawson and the marshals — a highly risky moment that sparked plenty of debate.

According to Steiner, the race director opted for that decision to avoid any risk or controversy, given how Lawson’s incident had already raised safety concerns.

He finally added: "I think the race director obviously saw a standing car. It was like.. he still has the pictures in front of him of the two marshals running across the track with Liam Lawson appearing. So I think it was an overreaction there. That’s an opinion. I have no facts on that one."

The stewards’ decision to deploy the VSC in the final laps sparked plenty of online debate, given that Sainz’s Williams was properly parked in the run-off and didn’t seem to pose any real danger.

However, the FIA was quick to clarify that the procedure was activated because, "The car began smoking, and race control received notifications of fire, making it clear that marshal intervention would be required for recovery."

When asked directly about the incident and whether the VSC was really necessary, the Spanish driver shared his thoughts at the end of the race.