This meeting was chaired by the president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula 1 stewards, Garry Connelly. This brought together representatives of the drivers and teams on the grid as well as representatives of F1 race control, including current race director Rui Marques, replacement for Niels Wittich. The aim of the meeting was to more precisely define the rights and responsibilities of the driver who overtakes as well as the driver who defends, in order to encourage wheel-to-wheel racing while promoting consistency in the decisions of the stewards.
This follows the tensions that appeared on the track between Max Verstappen (Red Bul) and Lando Norris (McLaren) this season and the sanctions that resulted from their various duels on the track… and even beyond the limits of this one. Thus in Austin, the five-second penalty inflicted on Lando Norris for overtaking Max Verstappen beyond the curb, despite the Dutchman's muscular defense, caused a stir in the paddock, since the Dutchman had taken his rival outside the track. The following week, in Mexico, the man who is now quadruple world champion since Las Vegas was heavily sanctioned twice (twice ten seconds) for having pushed the Briton, again, outside the limits of the track. Some had deemed these penalties inconsistent with that distributed in Texas. The drivers then called for immediate changes to the racing rules in Formula 1 for greater consistency and clarity.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during their contentious action in Austin – Photo: Eric Alonso / DPPI
« The meeting was the most productive we have ever attendedConnelly said. The drivers were fantastic in their contributions. Very constructive. There have been no negative comments. No one pointed fingers. It was very inspiring to see the world's best drivers communicating clearly and speaking constructively about how we can improve the Driving Standards Guidelines for the benefit of drivers and to make our jobs easier for all of us. »
Connelly: “It’s not us against the drivers”
Connelly particularly emphasized dialogue between the different parties. “ As stewards, we are not here to make the drivers suffer. We are here to provide a level playing field. It's not us against the drivers, it's the drivers against the drivers and we're here to make sure everyone gets a fair chance. Our policy is based on the fact that the door to the commissioners' room is always open to any driver who wishes to come and talk to us about a decision that has been taken with regard to him or another driver. We think Thursday's meeting emphasized that. »
« The Standards of Conduct Guidelines are a living document, he adds. Every year, as F1 commissioners, we try to meet with drivers, sporting directors and FIA representatives to see if we need to change the guidelines to take advantage of the experience of the last 12 months and see what improvements we can make to ensure consistency. The goal of the guidelines is consistency. As stewards, if drivers, teams and the FIA agree that they want rules or guidelines allowing more aggressive driving, we will enforce those rules or guidelines. Likewise, if they want higher standards of conduct, we will enforce them “, he concluded.
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