Photo: Race Pictures

'Marshalls scared the s*** out of race director' amid late VSC call

13:11, 02 Nov

Updated: 14:24, 02 Nov

0 Comments

byTobia Elia

Guenther Steiner offered his take on why the VSC was deployed in the closing stages of the Mexican Grand Prix.

"The marshals out there scared the s*** out of the race director"

- Guenther Steiner

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.

"If you are not in the control room of the race, you can’t really get the full picture. Think about what happened at the beginning: the marshalls out there scared the s*** out of the race director."

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.

Carlos Sainz's car in Mexican GP - Photo: Race Pictures

"And he was still trying to deal with that. I think he was still under shock and said, 'I do not want to take any risk here,' and put that in place. But it was obviously the wrong decision because Carlos did the best anybody could do."

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."

Sainz gives his version on controversial VSC at the F1 Mexico GP

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.

GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.