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Croft: 'The stewards should sit down with Hamilton and Verstappen first'

9 December 2021 at 08:58
Last update 9 December 2021 at 10:25
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  • GPblog.com

David Croft has made it clear to Sky Sports how he thinks the stewards should approach the upcoming Grand Prix weekend in Abu Dhabi. According to the Brit, the first thing that needs to happen is a conversation with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

The battle for the 2021 Formula One world title will be decided in the final race of the championship in Abu Dhabi. There has been much talk of a possible crash between Verstappen and Hamilton, but Croft believes that the tension can be taken out of the air if the stewards make it clear to the drivers in advance what they can and cannot do.

Conversation with title rivals

"I would take the time to sit down, and they probably will in the main drivers or after the main drivers briefing with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and say this is how we will police this. In the way that a Rugby Union referee would go in and have a word with the coaches before a big international. Say, this is how we see our job and how we're going to police and officiate what is to come," Croft said.

"Don't forget, the stewards have access to reams of data and they can adjudicate to exactly what has happened. Not just to the naked eye and various different camera angles that we don't always see on TV. But with the data of the cars as well. I think the best thing to do is to sit down with the drivers and remind them of their responsibility to keep it fair, keep it clean and keep the wheel to wheel action on track without contact. If you do that and someone does break the rules, then you've done your job as the steward and that makes the big decision easy should it be necessary," concludes the Sky Sports commentator.