Haas F1: American driver Ferrucci terminated from F2 for uncivilized behavior and payment defaults

Formula 2 team Trident has announced that they have terminated the contract of their American racing driver Santino Ferrucci who also is Haas F1 Team’s development driver. Video of Ferrucci hitting Maini at the British Grand Prix

The American driver was found to have driven his F2 car between the paddock and the pitlane while using a mobile phone and wearing just one glove. As a consequence of his behavior at the Silverstone round of the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, American driver Santino Ferrucci has found himself jettisoned from Trident Formula 2, as announced Wednesday. These incidents led to the team announcing that they would evaluate their legal options regarding Ferrucci's contract, also standing by Maini “for the unsportsmanlike and above all uncivilized behavior that he was forced to endure not only during this last weekend by Santino Ferrucci and father, who accompanied him.”

Trident released a statement on the Wednesday prior to the German Grand Prix, announcing that they have dropped Ferrucci with immediate effect:

“Trident Motorsport informs to have communicated to Santino Ferrucci and to its guarantor, a company represented by Mr. Michael Ferrucci, the termination of the contract with the Team. In a statement released by the Italian team, Trident announced that the decision was made from the events that occurred at Silverstone, as well as Ferrucci had failed to provide payments to Trident, despite being able to compete in the Detroit IndyCar race in June whilst contracted to the team. "Since the beginning of the championship, the Driver justified its payments' default with alleged failure by his sponsors to fulfil their obligations. It seems weird that, despite such kind of issues, Santino Ferrucci had the resources needed to enter the Detroit INDY race from June 1st to 3rd while, at the same time, he was not honouring his agreement with Trident Motorsport. “Trident gave mandate to its lawyers in order to activate all the procedures needed to fully recover its credits towards the driver.”

The Italian team will have a week until the next round in the Formula 2 championship at the Hungaroring to find a replacement to partner alongside Maini for the rest of the season. "Haas F1 Team remains committed to gathering all of the facts and having in-person conversations with all the individuals involved in the situation," stated Guenther Steiner, Haas team principal. “While we want a better understanding of everything that took place, we aren’t in a hurry because the German and Hungarian Grands Prix are, quite frankly, more important.”

Haas F1 Team principal Guenther Steiner spoke to Motorsport.com after the incident at Silverstone, saying that he will deal with the situation when more information has been gathered.
Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci is sacked by Trident Racing for deliberately crashing into Arjun Maini at a race in Silverstone earlier this month and for his sponsor's non-payment. He was previously fined for a number of other incidents, including holding a mobile phone as he drove from a paddock.