Russell says drivers and FIA "are in agreement" after Qatar meeting

In the 2024 season, there has not been much communication between the FIA stewards and the drivers' on the grid regarding the rules and regulations, something that has frustrated the entire paddock. As a result, there have been questionable penalty decisions coming from the stewards, with inconsistency being the main concern. At the United States Grand Prix this season, Russell was handed a penalty for forcing a driver off the track while trying to overtake Valtteri Bottas, but at the same corner, Lando Norris was then handed a penalty for gaining an advantage while off-track, with Max Verstappen not receiving anything after pulling a similar move to Russell.

As a result, the drivers requested a meeting at the next race in Mexico, and now as they arrive in Qatar for the penultimate race of the season, another meeting has taken place between the two sides to have some clarity over these issues. Russell, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, was a key figure in both of those meetings, and after the one in the Middle East today, the Brit said there was progress made.

Russell explains what progress was made between the drivers' and the FIA 

Speaking to several media sources after the meeting, including GPblog, Russell said: "It was pretty productive. I think we all agree the guidelines don’t need massive changes. They just need the odd sentence removed or adjusted. But I think everybody's clear with what happened in Austin, what should have been a penalty. What happened in Mexico was rightly penalised. Generally speaking, over the course of the year, I think the decisions have been pretty good. It was just probably Austin who was the outlier. Just fine tweaks. 

"Everyone is in agreement, to be honest. I know there was maybe a bit of disagreement when we had the meeting in Mexico, but I think that was probably just a bit of self-protection. I don't think it's rocket science. I think we all feel the same way. If you're overtaking on the inside and you make the corner and you're not running off, it's your corner. You want to see hard racing. You want to see drivers battling wheel-to-wheel. It looks awesome when people are going through the gravel and sparks are being flown up. I think the stewards recognise that. If you're on the outside being overtaken, it's on you to yield. Right now there is a line in the regulation that says the inside driver needs to leave room to the guy on the outside from the apex to the exit and I think that's going to be getting binned off and I hope it's going to be from this weekend onwards," continued the Mercedes driver.

Russell also makes a comment on Wittich's departure

Coming into this weekend, it has been a tumultuous time for the FIA. The departure of former race director Niels Wittich before the Las Vegas Grand Prix a change right at the top of the FIA team before the end of the season, and to go with that, lead steward Tim Mayer also saw his job disappear after president Mohammed Ben Sulayem sacked him.

Asked about these changes made, the Brit said: "Just when we've asked for, let's say, a bit of transparency and consistency, we're getting rid of two highly important people in the governing body. So it's kind of gone in full 360. We still don't have any reason for Niels' removal. I don't think anybody was informed about Tim leaving. The first I heard about the new race director doing Formula 2 this weekend as well as through the media. So naturally in any organisation, if you've got people leaving or a change of personnel, it's never going to be a stable environment and people have to learn the new rules. That's very challenging for any team and it must be super challenging for everyone within the FIA right now. We'd love to get a little bit of clarity and understanding of what's going on and who's getting fired next.

"But I think the overtaking rules on the outside will not be changing much and I don't think we've really seen much of a problem. As I said, on my personal view, generally this year, I think it's worked well. It's just the issues that came up in Austin were obviously highlighted quite a lot but ultimately it came down to the same fact which was the circuit allows you to do that. If you take Max's example of how late he braked into the corner, he wouldn't do that in a corner that has gravel on the outside because the risk to yourself is too great. Whereas when you've got tarmac on the outside, the risk is you just run a bit wider, you get a track limit warning. So, that's going to change now," concluded Russell