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The World Motor Sport Council met today to discuss a variety of topics surrounding the future of Formula One and one such topics was a improvement needed in the stewarding process at grands prix. 2008 saw an unprecedented number of decisions being made by the three race stewards, and to say they did a less-than-acceptable job is a gross understatement. However, the FIA have promised to be more transparent and share evidence with fans via the FIA and official F1 websites. Continue Reading

If 2008 will be remembered for anything, it will be the ruthless decisions made by the stewards of the races. I don’t have hard numbers, but it would appear that this season has seen an uncharacteristic high number of fine and penalties imposed on drivers and teams. Misdemeanour’s range from being late to official meetings (morning briefings etc) to driving the wrong way up the track during a practice session. But are the punishments helping or hindering the overall spectacle? Continue Reading

It has been suggested that Max Mosley would like to have more stewards present at each race, and the FIA president has apparently been considering overhauling the stewarding process for some time. This news comes in light of some inconsistent rulings in recent events, which in turn have sparked a fair amount of anger among some of the sport’s fans. However, Mosley is adamant this is not a retaliation to these recent controversies, and instead is something he has been thinking about for some time. Continue Reading

Shortly after the Singapore Grand Prix, Toyota lodged a protest against rival team Scuderia Toro Rosso as they felt Sebastian Vettel was unsafely released from his pitstop in to the path of Timo Glock. Despite Glock finishing ahead of Vettel in the race - so any punishment to the recent race winner won’t effect Glock’s result - it would have enabled a larger gap between the two teams in the constructors battle. Continue Reading

The F1 world has received a lot of publicity this week; some good and some bad, depending on your own view. But needless to say, just about everyone has an opinion on the penalty Lewis Hamilton received after his on-track skirmish with Kimi Raikkonen at the end of the Belgian Grand Prix. Many Formula One insiders have offered their view on the decision by the stewards to add 25s to Hamilton’s time, and the view from the paddock is just as mixed as the views from the fans. Continue Reading

As Ago has just pointed out in the previous post, Lewis Hamilton has been handed a 25s penalty for cutting the chicane while battling with Kimi Raikkonen for the lead of the race. The penalty, which is a drive-thru after the completion of the race, means 25 seconds is added to Hamilton’s overall time and demotes the Briton to third behind Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld. Needless to say, I don’t think McLaren are too happy about this. Continue Reading

During yesterday’s second free practice session at Monaco, Renault driver Fernando Alonso damaged his R28 chassis while exiting T1. The famous Ste Devote corner - a sharp right-hander that leads onto the hill - caught Alonso’s team mate out only minutes prior to Fernando’s incident, and because of his actions, the stewards have had a chat with the double world champion. Fortunately, no penalty was given after Alonso explained his actions. Continue Reading

Following the retirement of the FIA’s permanent race steward, Tony Scott Andrews, the governing body has taken the opportunity to shake up the way stewards deal with situations at races in 2008. Up until the end of 2007, Andrews worked alongside two other stewards; one from the national sporting authority and another from outside the participating country. Under Andrews’s guidance issues surrounding the investigating and dealing with breaches of the rules at each Grand Prix were handled. However, more often than not the handling of punishments didn’t come across as just to the teams and fans and the FIA have been heavily criticised for this. Particularly when a breach of the rules is made public only for nothing to be done about it after days of deliberation. Continue Reading