The Dutchman then twice restricted his answers in official FIA news conferences and instead spoke to the media elsewhere outside the room.
He called his penalty “ridiculous” and said the rest of the drivers backed him and he intimated that it was the sort of situation that would shorten his time in F1.
Steiner said: “The best way [to handle it] would have been not to make a big story of it. Sit down with the drivers, they have a meeting every weekend, and say: ‘Hey, guys, can you tone it down a little bit? We are the FIA, we don’t really like this.’
“But don’t say: ‘If you do, you get a fine, a penalty, whatever.’ Because you know these guys, they’ve got an ego as well. And they say: ‘I don’t want to do that.’ And then what do you create? All this controversy – for nothing.”
Steiner did acknowledge that F1 drivers should be careful of their language in public forums.
“You have heard me a lot in press conferences and interviews like this, I don’t swear,” he said. “I swear when I am in the battle. And that’s why I made these comments.
“When you are in the heat, and adrenaline is going and emotions are going, you do it. When we say, ‘Oh, the children, we have to look after our children.’ But they hear it everywhere. Swearing has changed from what it was 20 years ago to now.
“When you swear at somebody, that’s a different story. But swearing at somebody in the race I understand because you’re doing 350km/h and somebody cuts you off, you’re not saying: ‘Hello, buddy, you shouldn’t be doing this.'”
Steiner was talking to BBC Sport in an interview to mark a new book, Unfiltered, which recounts his 10 years in charge of the Haas team. He was fired last winter after a disagreement with owner Gene Haas.
In the book, Steiner is critical of the leadership of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, saying: “His era in charge has been chaotic so far and he’s managed to upset just about every team and every team principal.”
