Mercedes F1 star calls for MAJOR FIA overhaul

George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Hungary, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

FIA

Mercedes star calls for MAJOR FIA overhaul

The FIA have come under scrutiny in recent races

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 3 November 2024 09:57

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A Mercedes F1 star has called for a major FIA overhaul following penalty controversy at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ on-track battles in Austin and Mexico have opened a discussion over the consistency of the stewards and their decisions.

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At the US GP Norris was awarded a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, after both himself and Verstappen went off track when they were fighting for third place.

The pair picked up where they left off again in Mexico, where Verstappen appeared to force Norris off-track again, however this time the FIA slammed Verstappen with a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Max Verstappen was slammed with a double penalty at the Mexican GP

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris' recent battles have called the FIA's stewarding into question

George Russell calls for FIA change

Drivers up and down the F1 grid have criticised what happened in Mexico, including George Russell who has urged the FIA to conduct a major overhaul.

The Mercedes star discussed the issue with how the racing guidelines were being interpreted, and suggested that the FIA adopt the same stewards to combat these inconsistencies.

George Russell calls for consistent stewards at races

"When things come down to interpretation, and when things are about consistency, you can argue if you were to have the same stewards week in, week out, the consistency will be better because they're interpreting things in the same manner and the drivers understand exactly what they expect in a given circumstance,” Russell said.

"So I do feel, again a personal view, not one of on behalf of the drivers, but personal view, I do think 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.

"They're not effectively volunteers and 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 week in, week out."