F1 News
Allowing drivers to race freer? Clear guidelines to be made during winter break
The FIA and the Stewards decisions received many question marks during the 2019 F1 season. To prevent situations like this next season, the guidelines for side-by-side racing will be published to help make any situation that arises a lot clearer.
Remember the decision to penalise Sebastian Vettel in the Canadian Grand Prix? Vettel didn't turn as much as required and ran across the grass, before coming back onto the track. This caused Lewis Hamilton to take action. Vettel was penalised and he lost the race as a result. That was just one of the decisions which was questioned by many. As a result of this, the FIA became less strict when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had a bit of an incident in Austria just a few weeks later.
This change of tone was not welcomed by many teams on the grid. McLaren themselves wanted a clear vision as to where the stewards stand: "At the start of the season everyone knew where we stood. The decisions have become more moderate during the season. We prefer strict enforcement of the rules because this means more consistency."
Race Director Michael Masi takes the criticism and seriously and looks to make this better during the winter break. “The goal is to set clear guidelines and we, as race management, try to understand what the teams mean by 'allowing drivers to race', but there will always be room for interpretation. That's because the stewards are different people every race," says Masi according to Auto Motor und Sport