Romain Grosjean’s horror crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend paved the way for Pietro Fittipaldi to make his F1 debut at the Sakhir GP.
However, the Haas F1 Team’s decision to run Fittipaldi as Grosjean’s replacement instead of Louis Deletraz, another reserve driver that the American racing outfit could have called upon, left the Formula Two driver less than pleased.
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In a social media post, Deletraz suggested that Haas should have more “respect” for him.
“Congrats Jack, Williams and Mercedes. A choice based on pure performance. It’s nice to see a team with respect to its drivers,” Deletraz wrote after it was announced that Jack Aitken would replace George Russell at Williams this weekend.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has fired back, saying Deletraz is not the only person who is “angry” to miss out on the opportunity.
“I haven’t spoken with him recently, but I saw that he is angry – and he’s not the only one who is angry because they wanted that seat,” Steiner said.
“He is just one of them, so get in line. Pietro deserves it. I asked him to be here because I was worried about coronavirus, and so he came to be away from home for three weeks without any assurance of being able to race.
“There is no debate about this. It was the plan that was on the table and we followed it.”
Continuing, Steiner stressed that he doesn’t “have to ask anyone else” who he should pick to drive for the team.
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