Russell wants the FIA stewards system to be overhauled
George Russell believes Formula 1 would benefit from having permanent stewards rather than a rotation of volunteers. The Mercedes driver expresses that he feels the current stewards are at a good level.
After the Mexico Grand Prix, the debate about stewards flared up again. This increased after Johnny Herbert spoke out about Formula 1 in various interviews. His objectivity has been questioned.
What can change to the FIA stewards?
"I do feel, on a personal view, we're at a point now in this sport that we do need a full-time professional steward in where they earn a real salary," Russell stated in Brazil. By saying this, Russell is not implying that the current stewards are not good enough: "I do think within the pool of stewards we've got now, they are definitely up to standard. So it's not saying anything bad about the current stewards, it's just saying I feel we should be having system stewarding a week in, week out."
Max Verstappen was anything but pleased with the stewards. In particular, Verstappen found Johnny Herbert's statements 'abnormal'. Hebert will be a steward again in Brazil. That will be Herbert's last race this season as a steward.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton