For some time now, discontent and unease has been growing among Formula 1 drivers, at the apparent lack of consistency on the part of the stewards on issues such as possible incidents during race battles or track limits.
This came to a boil at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, where there were 43 incidents of track limit violations, while George Russell felt his five-second penalty for his first lap collision with Sergio Pérez was “tough”.
The Mercedes driver considered that all the incidents should be judged independently, since they are all different, and asked the stewards to work more closely with the drivers so that everyone is “on the same page.
“The dynamic of every incident is different,” Russell explained. “The fact is that Checo was on the outside and I had to give him space.”
“But when it puts me in a position where I’m already on the limit with my car and someone comes into the corner with more grip, there’s nowhere else for me to go.”
“[If we take it] literally, I was wrong and he was right.”
“But from the moment I braked I was at the limit of the car and couldn’t do anything else. He had clean air, Carlos [Sainz] was defending on the inside.
“That’s what happens on the first lap, he’s got a lot of experience, he knows how it goes.”
“But from the stewards’ perspective, it’s very difficult. We’re all looking for consistency, but we don’t want penalties being applied left and right.”
“We have to work together to establish that we are all on the same page.”
Since the 2022 season, F1 has had two race directors, Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who replaced Masi when the Australian was fired.
When asked if F1 needs to go back to having a single race director to achieve greater consistency in the management of the competition, Max Verstappen was clear in his answer: “I don’t think it necessarily depends on [having] a single race director. I think it’s more about working with the drivers rather than standing your ground and being stubborn.”
“We want it to be better for everyone and it’s not like we’re fighting for ourselves,” explained the Dutchman from Red Bull, ruling out that each driver seeks an individual benefit.
“We have good conversations between the drivers and at the end of the day, more or less, we agree on most things.
“Of course, everyone has their own opinions on certain things.”
“Then the other thing is the racing incidents and stuff. Yes, for sure we can do better. I think we will work on it and try to improve it.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc says he doesn’t think it’s “impossible to achieve a good level of consistency”, but admits having two race directors makes it more difficult.
“I think consistency has always been something we’ve been looking for and it can always be improved,” Leclerc added. “Obviously having two race directors makes it a little more difficult.”
“Is it impossible to achieve a good level of consistency? I don’t think so.”
“So yeah, I don’t really have any solution for now. But I think probably with just one race director, it might be a little bit easier to manage.”
