The FIA have thrown themselves into further disarray at the Mexican Grand Prix, after it was revealed that race director Niels Wittich gave Haas incorrect information at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Haas decided to protest to the FIA 54 minutes after the race at the Circuit of the Americas concluded that they believed Fernando Alonso should’ve been shown a black and orange flag, something Kevin Magnussen has been awarded multiple times this season.
The Americans felt the Alpine driver should’ve been shown it following his high-speed crash with Lance Stroll, as he continued to race with a broken wing-mirror.
Alonso’s right mirror flapped around for 25 laps, before falling off his A522.
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It is because of this that Haas complained to the FIA after the race, which resulted in the governing body believing the Americans were right.
Alonso was therefore awarded a 30-second time penalty which demoted him from seventh to P15, which resulted in Alpine appealing the penalty.
The penalty was then reverted ahead of this weekend’s action, after it was revealed that Haas had submitted their protest past the 30-minute window.
Haas boss Guenther Steiner revealed during FP1 to Sky Sports that the governing body are a “right mess”, especially as it was race director Niels Wittich who told them they could protest within an hour, not 30-minutes.
“The inconsistency continues,” Steiner told Sky F1.
“I don’t know how long this can continue.
“It’s getting old, basically. We’ve got the black-and-orange flag three times this year and then somebody else didn’t get it and that is not right.
“I really hope this gets in control because it’s not good for the spectators that teams are treated differently.
“There is nothing more to be said than disappointment. It’s just about consistency. It’s a right mess.”
The FIA have since informed the paddock that they will look into the use of the black and orange flag, something Steiner labels as a “bit late for us”.
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“A little bit late for us now, huh? After we got it three times already,” said Steiner.
“They should have looked into it before, not now, because what we got penalised for you cannot make good. We potentially lost points and to change it now is no satisfaction for me.”
The penalty being reverted overall meant that Alonso retained his seventh place, meaning that Kevin Magnussen was pushed back to his original finishing position of ninth after being overtaken on the last lap by Sebastian Vettel.