Steiner Urges FIA AI Fix After British GP Farce

Guenther Steiner has had enough. The former Haas team principal is calling on the FIA to hire full-time stewards and lean harder on artificial intelligence after the British Grand Prix descended into farce at Silverstone, finishing behind the safety car when a restart looked imminent.

The chaos unfolded on lap 48 of 52 when Max Verstappen spun into the gravel at Stowe corner, triggering the safety car. A message briefly appeared on broadcasts indicating the safety car would come in — only for the FIA to later confirm it was shown in error. With insufficient laps to complete the unlapping procedure, the race ended under yellows, with Charles Leclerc taking Ferrari's first win of the season ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner was blunt. 'We need to start a campaign soon. You know what I'm always saying: full-time stewards that work on a plan. This is not to blame the stewards because the stewards have nothing to do with this; it's the race director,' he said. His argument is straightforward — permanent staff would build institutional knowledge and pre-mapped solutions for exactly these scenarios.

Steiner also offered a practical workaround the race director missed. If lapped cars have cleared half a lap with one lap remaining, they will not interfere with the leaders — racing could resume. 'Obviously, the race director did what is written in the rulebook,' he acknowledged, but insisted the rulebook itself needs smarter tools behind it.

On AI, Steiner was direct: 'A human being cannot do it. You need to run through a million scenarios.' He pointed to Abu Dhabi 2021 as proof that five years on, the FIA still lacks a robust system for end-of-race safety car decisions. Check the championship standings to see how the result landed across the F1 season. All eyes now turn to Spa-Francorchamps and the Belgian Grand Prix, where the pressure on race control to get it right only grows.

First reported by Motorsport.com.