Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has suggested Formula 1 stewards are biased in their decisions towards the leading drivers on the grid.

With two aggressive racers in Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in their ranks, the Italian has admitted trips to the stewards' room are almost customary during Grand Prix weekends.

However, when considering how any subsequent penalty is applied, Steiner does think the smaller teams or lesser profile drivers pay a greater price for their errors.

“We are easy to pick on, I guess is what you’re saying?" he told Motorsport.com.

“Sometimes we don’t help ourselves to put ourselves in this position – if you didn’t need to go there you wouldn’t get the penalty but if there is a decision to be taken, I still think that who you are counts for what the outcome is. It should all be without a name.”

While conceding it was only a hunch and he has "no evidence" to back up his pretty bold claim, FIA race director Charlie Whiting didn't rule out some external factors influencing decisions.

“If a driver’s got nine points on his licence that shouldn’t influence the stewards’ decision,” he said.

“If they think they shouldn’t give him three because he’ll have to take a race off, that shouldn’t come into it, but whether it plays a sub-conscious part I don’t know.”