F1 News
Steiner has a solution after rant about F1's "antiquated" stewarding system
Guenther Steiner has reiterated his frustration with the current F1 stewarding system and has offered a solution to what he feels is a serious problem for the sport. This comes in wake of the stewards decision at the United States Grand Prix on the Max Verstappen and Lando Norris turn-12 incident. Some key members of the paddock, including Toto Wolff, felt it was inconsistent compared to other penalties handed out during the weekend.
The stewards penalised Mercedes driver George Russell for forcing Valtteri Bottas off the track earlier in the race. Russell could overtake Valtteri Bottas into Turn 12; however, he pushed him wide in the process, and the stewards gave him a five-second penalty. Wolff was not happy with the decision, and he decided to let his driver know over the team radio. "Total joke, George, with the penalty, total joke," the Austrian said.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris engaged in a duel towards the end of the race. Norris tried to overtake on the outside at turn 12 but completed the move outside the white line. The stewards, therefore, slapped him with a five-second penalty. The five seconds were enough to swap the order back over when the chequered flag dropped.
Steiner believes the rules are not clearly defined. "A judge couldn't work on rules of engagement, it doesn't work in real life, it doesn't work in racing," Steiner said on the Red Flags Podcast.
What is Steiner's stewarding solution?
"The stewards need to be permanent people or at least some of them. You have got four stewards. Two could be permanent, and two could be on a rotational basis so have got a little bit of independence in there. If somebody sees something which shouldn't be right, he can say it. But no other sport at this level has got [it]. IndyCar has got permanent stewards. NASCAR has got permanent stewards. I don't think they have stewards. They've got race control. MotoGP has got permanent stewards," Steiner added.
"The referees in soccer, they are professionals. They do it for a living. They are paid to do it. And in F1, they don't have it. It comes from the past, from history. It's antiquated. Sometimes you need to make a change, in my opinion. If you look at the sport where it was [20 years ago]. Maybe it was possible to do. But these days, with the size of the sport and the professionalism going around in every little aspect, and the stakes, and what is at stake here, the money, the fame, careers, a lot of livelihoods are at stake," Steiner continued.
"I understand the FIA doesn't want all permanent stewards, so mix it up. People which think it should be rotational and voluntary people can be part of it. The stewards, they should also be part of defining new regulations, because they know, they learn how difficult it is with the rules, how they are written to make a fair decision. They can [then] work during the week on that to make the rules better, they can help the race director. That would be my idea," Steiner concluded.
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