Vitantonio Liuzzi is one of the consultant drivers for the FIA F1 Racing Stewards’ Office. The former driver practices a rather permissive policy with the 20 current Formula 1 entrants, but recognizes that the tensions of 2021 between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have had an impact on driving standards.
“I want to let them run for show” Liuzzi said on the Inside Line podcast. “But we have to let them run safely, so that we can mix the two things. That’s our, let’s say, fine line, when we have to understand where it can end up becoming too much.”
“I believe that in 2021, Hamilton and Verstappen raised the level of competition, because it was an incredible season, perhaps one of the best in the last 20 years. But obviously, they have taken to a more dangerous level At Monza it could have ended in a more dangerous situation, the year after Budapest was quite dangerous.”
“We don’t want to be, let’s say, tied to luck. We want to be very safe for the sake of the sport and the drivers who are in the car. And I think we are working very well. We have a great show. We want just that everything is clearer for the drivers and that they know how to manage the competition.”
The Italian appreciates the relationship of trust that he manages to establish with the pilots, including when the decision does not suit them, thanks to open discussions: “I support the pilot to get clarification or a fairer analysis, to have a fair conversation.”
“I like to talk and explain why we make a decision. I have to say that in the last five years, when I have made very difficult decisions, everyone and all the drivers have understood.”
“Obviously at the beginning in the media you often hear arguments between the drivers and the decisions, and so there are a few words. But at the end, when we sit down and explain how we made the decision, I must say that I have always found really good and intelligent people in front of me.”
“They have confidence in what they are doing. They know that I love the sport, that I love Formula 1, that I love the paddock and that I am friends with everyone. They know that I will always be neutral and that I will try to do things the right way.”
“And I think it’s a very important position to have an ex-driver internally in the stewards’ panel, and he’s very good in the conversation with the driver to make that understanding work better. “
