When it was revealed, shortly after yesterday's race, that Haas was under investigation, it won't have only been drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean and the team's many fans who feared the worst.

Already disillusioned with the sport, a penalty that took away Magnussen's ninth-place finish, could prove to be the tipping point for Gene Haas as he mulls his team's future.

Even the subsequent decision from the stewards, which saw Magnussen demoted to tenth and Magnussen sixteenth after both were handed time penalties, was somewhat ambiguous.

"The Stewards determined that the team instructed the driver to pit," it read. "The team could not prove that one of the exemptions made under paragraph A. 2. a) to g) of the Technical Directive 011-17 was applicable.

"Therefore, the Stewards consider there is breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided."

Asked to explain, if only for the benefit of Gene Haas, Race Director, Michael Masi said: "There was a technical directive that came out in 2017 clarifying what communications the team can make to the drivers on the formation lap, which relates to Article 27.1 of the sporting regulations, which is that the driver must drive the car alone, and unaided.

"Part of that summons is that both drivers were called in by their engineers to change tyres on the formation lap, which is not permitted within that technical directive that was issued at the time about what can and can't.

"In essential terms, the only communication that can be made with the driver during the formation lap is to do with safety matters, so if it's an issue of imminent safety, then that communication can take place."

Viewers will have heard Daniil Kvyat state that he wanted to pit for slicks at the end of the formation lap, this was the driver's call not the team's, and even then he opted to pit at the end of the first lap instead.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by meatball, 23/07/2020 16:06

"Gene Haas has been good for this sport. Like it or not, F1 NEEDS an US team, they are a huge, somewhat un-tapped market. Though no team deserves ANY special treatment (looking at YOU ferrari... ) the way this rule is being applied (hamfistedly and posthumously) - if I were Haas, I'd turn my back and never look back. The rule book must weigh more than a F1 Car by now."

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2. Posted by Pavlo, 21/07/2020 12:27

"Who said all rules need to make sense?
In every sport there are rules for safety and rules to define the game. With the latter, there is no point to discuss the ‘sense‘ of it - you either accept it, or remove from the rule book before the start.
It’s quite an easy to follow one, so Haas just traded advantage of better tires for 10 seconds.
If you think the show will be better without this rule, ask FIA to remove it, but before the race."

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3. Posted by TokyoAussie, 21/07/2020 3:26

"How petty can you get?"

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4. Posted by Vinodh Moodley, 20/07/2020 20:19

"They should have just fined the drivers and let them keep their positions. Stupid rule that serves no purposes besides messing everyone around.

What's the point of stopping the team talking to the driver during the formation lap but it's fine for them to talk to the driver for the entire race?

Every time I think F1 is starting to make progress, they do something stupid. I can already see them planning to mess around with the format of qualifying again..."

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5. Posted by 79-626inHI, 20/07/2020 19:38

"So the Haas drivers are penalized 10 seconds for talking on the radio. But other drivers guilty of avoidable contact that completely knocks another driver out of contention are only penalized 5 seconds. Can anyone explain these disproportionate penalties? "

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6. Posted by Mad Matt, 20/07/2020 17:16

"The teams know the rules, there's nothing knew here so, like all sports, it's no surprise to get punished for breaking them.

It's a shame for the Haas drivers but hopefully there won't be a mistake like this again."

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7. Posted by bfairey, 20/07/2020 15:44

"F! rules are getting more and more stupid as the seasons go bye.The last driver on the grid was assigned a 5sec penelity for being out of position and he was the last one on the grid??"

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8. Posted by Batman, 20/07/2020 14:26

"A change of tyres is a driving help, just because the drivers were called for it in the warm lap, trying to match the right tyre with the track status quick evolvement and losing position on the grid? Quo vadis F1?"

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9. Posted by Anthony, 20/07/2020 11:09

"The sport has become ridiculously over regulated....."

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Why the Haas pair were penalised

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