FIA stewards urge dialogue with drivers at Qatar meeting

This meeting was chaired by the President of the Stewards of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Formula 1, Garry Connelly. It brought together representatives of the drivers and teams on the grid as well as representatives from F1 race control, including current race director Rui Marques, Niels Wittich's replacement. The meeting aimed to further define the rights and responsibilities of the overtaking driver and the defending driver, in order to encourage wheel-to-wheel racing while promoting consistency in stewards' decisions.

This follows tensions that arose on the track between Max Verstappen (Red Bul) and Lando Norris (McLaren) this season and the sanctions that resulted from their various duels on the track… and even beyond the limits of the track. Thus in Austin, the five-second penalty inflicted on Lando Norris for having overtaken Max Verstappen over the kerb, despite the muscular defense of the Dutchman, had caused a stir in the paddock, since the Dutchman had taken his rival off the track. The following week, in Mexico, the one who is now quadruple world champion since Las Vegas had been heavily sanctioned twice (twice ten seconds) for having pushed the Briton, again, outside the limits of the track. Some had judged these penalties inconsistent with that distributed in Texas. The drivers had then called for immediate changes to the racing rules in Formula 1 for more consistency and clarity.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during their contentious action in Austin – Photo: Eric Alonso /DPPI

« The meeting was the most productive we have ever attended., Connelly said. The drivers were fantastic in their contributions. Very constructive. There was no negative feedback. No finger pointing. It was very inspiring to see the best drivers in the world communicating clearly and talking constructively about how we can improve the driving standards guidelines for the benefit of drivers and to make our jobs easier for all. »

Connelly: "It's not us against the drivers"

Connelly particularly emphasized dialogue between the different parties. As stewards, we are not here to make the drivers suffer. We are here to provide a level playing field. It is not us against the drivers, it is drivers against drivers and we are here to make sure that everyone has a fair chance. Our policy is that the door to the stewards room is always open to any driver who wants to come and talk to us about a decision that has been made against them or another driver. We think Thursday's meeting highlighted that. »

« The Conduct Standards Guidelines are a living document, He added. Every year as F1 stewards we try to meet with the drivers, the sporting directors and the FIA ​​representatives to see if we need to change the guidelines to take advantage of the experience of the last 12 months and see what improvements we can make to ensure consistency. The aim of the guidelines is consistency. As stewards, if the drivers, the teams and the FIA ​​agree that they want rules or guidelines that allow more aggressive driving, we will implement those rules or guidelines. Similarly, if they want higher standards of driving, we will implement them. He concluded.

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