Russell proposes FIA steward solution as Sainz lauds ex-F1 driver trio

George Russell declared that it is time for somebody to “stick their hand in their pocket” to fund permanent FIA F1 stewards.

After Carlos Sainz highlighted Sky F1 duo Karun Chandhok and Anthony Davidson, plus Jolyon Palmer, as figures who regularly get their analysis of F1 incidents spot on, Russell argued that the days of rotating stewards needs to stop. The drivers met with the FIA for talks ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

George Russell calls for permanent FIA F1 stewards

The traditional F1 drivers’ meeting set the scene in Qatar for competitors to discuss with the FIA their thoughts on the racing guidelines, which cover areas such as overtaking and on-track conduct.

Sainz had requested an “urgent” meeting with the FIA after Oscar Piastri received a 10-second penalty in Brazil. He was adjudged to have been wholly at fault for a collision which also involved Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

Ahead of the Qatar drivers’ meeting, Sainz claimed that the analysis which Chandhok, Davidson and Palmer regularly conduct on incidents, sets a standard which F1 stewarding should aspire to reach.

“I respect those three that he mentioned from an analysis perspective. And I think they do get things absolutely spot on,” Russell responded on Sainz’s comments, as he spoke to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets.

“The benefit they have versus stewards is they’ve got, one, no pressure. And two, they’ve got time on their hands not to make a decision there in the moment. And three, they’re not following guidelines. They’re following their own view of their racing experience and knowledge, which, for what it’s worth, I think the stewards have, but their job isn’t to make a decision based upon their view and race and knowledge. Their job is to make a decision based upon the guidelines.

“That means the guidelines need to be correct. If the guidelines aren’t correct, the decisions won’t be correct. But you can’t have a guideline for every circumstance. So it goes back to this point where I think consistent stewarding [is needed], from individuals who’ve got that racing experience, who can see an incident for what it is, where we will get the most consistent penalties for a given incident.

“That’s where the likes of Anthony, Jolyon and Karun have that benefit.”

Asked how we get to the point of having those sorts of former F1 driver figures in the stewards room, Russell continued: “I don’t think we need to get necessarily, those specific three, but I do think those three would be great.

“But somebody’s got to stick their hand in their pocket to pay the stewards the correct amount it would be to have consistent stewarding over the course of 24 races.

“At the end of the day, it’s a job. It’s a multi-billion-dollar sport. We shouldn’t be having volunteers having such great power in certain roles. So somebody’s got to pay for these people, in my eyes.”

With a clear opinion formed, Russell was quizzed on what exactly he wants to come out of this drivers’ meeting in Qatar.

“I think it’s really useful for the stewards to hear it from our viewpoint,” he said.

“If you take the Oscar-Kimi incident in Brazil, the sort of intricacies of a race car, whereby the track may be dropping away on the inside, a car is locked up, but it doesn’t mean he’s out of control. It means, because of the roll stiffness of a car, and the car dropping away, that front left tyre is always going to be off the ground.

“That isn’t written in the guidelines. So I hope we make progress.

“I do fear that we will end up in the same position where we make adjustments to the guidelines, and then there’ll be a new incident next year that the guidelines don’t really allow for, and we’ll see another decision based upon the guidelines and not based upon racing knowledge.

“I think we’re kind of all in agreement. I’m not talking on behalf of anybody here, but I think the majority of drivers do believe that permanent stewarding is the way forward, and that’ll be an interesting debate to have.”

Having suggested that the drivers are more or less a united front on permanent stewards being the way, Russell was asked whether it is possible for the drivers to have a common opinion on incidents, as it was put to him that the Piastri-Antonelli-Leclerc collision which he mentioned received mix driver reaction.

“The drivers who are involved in the accident are always going to have different opinions,” he confirmed, “but from a neutral, I think the majority of drivers agree upon, let’s say, this specific incident.

“But that’s always going to be the case. Every driver is going to have a very slightly different interpretation. But if you have three stewards, permanent stewards, once you learn how they approach one incident, you know that’s going to have some sort of consistency to the next incident.

“When you’re… I don’t know how many different stewards there are over the course of a season, but when you’re changing the individual making that decision, and it comes down to an interpretation, everyone’s going to interpret it different.”

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Russell was asked whether he feared that permanent stewards would lead to personnel preferences, and therefore bias. It was suggested that there is a reason why in football, the matches are not led by the same referee every time.

“I mean, I don’t know exactly how football works in terms of how a referee makes a decision, to be honest,” the Mercedes driver said. “And I also don’t know if teams or the sport, as a whole, think there have been some incorrect decisions.

“I guess you can always argue that there may be a permanent bias. But if you find yourself in the stewards [room] week in, week out, then maybe you need to look at yourself in the mirror. I don’t know, on average, how many times a driver actually goes to the stewards in a season. I’ve been probably twice this year. I think probably most drivers two or three times in a season, maximum.

“There shouldn’t really be chance of a bias, because you shouldn’t be in there that often in the first place, if that makes sense.”

Russell has just one penalty point from the stewards on his FIA Super Licence for the 12-month period.

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