The FIA has revealed that it will introduce greater transparency into decisions made by Formula One stewards next season. In the wake of the controversy that surrounded Lewis Hamilton's penalty at Spa-Francorchamps, it was decided at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris today that decisions will be better explained to the public from now on. A written explanation of each decision will be published on the FIA's website, rather than just the confirmations of decisions that are made public at present. The FIA has also pledged to make available any film evidence relevant to stewards' decisions that may not have been seen by the public on both the FIA and FOM websites. A new replay system will also be introduced to the officiating process with the intention that all incidents are investigated and any action is taken during the race itself, unless it is necessary to seek further evidence after the event. The FIA also announced that trainee stewards - nominated by their nation's governing body and selected by the FIA - will attend five grands prix next season in an observation role. Any national stewards officiating on a Formula One race for the first time must have observed at least one grand prix in this way to obtain their stewards' super licence. A short CV of all trainee stewards will also be posted on the FIA website. It has long been argued that at least one former grand prix driver should be among the stewards and the FIA also confirmed that ex-racers are eligible to obtain their national stewarding licence and graduate to the super licence. The WMSC also rubber-stamped the plan to extend engine life to three races from next year. Thanks from Auto auto sport. Personally I think this is a step in the right direction, thought's.
Sounds great! I like how they've started posting the videos on the F1 website since they always take them down off youtube.
I hope not just the Steward group's decisions are made public but also how each Steward voted. However; Published results of each individual Steward's decision can be a double edged sword. It creates accountability so that the steward can be questioned but on the other hand Mad Max and The Bernie can repremand stewards for not following the script.
Well, the video they put up after Japan still didn't explain the Bourdais penalty. We needed the on-board camera to see if he came loose and slid into Massa. Otherwise, the penalty doesn't make sense, unless the theory was that the STR came out in Massa's blind spot so the onus was on Bourdais to "see and avoid".
I have watched that closely, every angle possible with the available footage, they won't allow onboard footage out, because it will make it look the farce it was, your right to think it doesn't make sense, but there again it did, think about it, it gave Massa a 1 point nudge up the standings and think how close it was at the end. It was a pathetic judgement, and I feel for Bourdias, poor bloke minding his own business and gets dragged into the FIA fix.
2008 was a travesty. After following F1 from my childhood onwards, this year's legerdemain and cancellation of Grands Prix in Canada, France and US, has killed my interest in F1. While I'm hoping Craw's ascendancy will change matters within FIA, Bernie is another matter. I look forward to the birth of a new international open wheel series where cars that cross the finish line before all others actually win and where drivers in weaker teams aren't penalized for wheel to wheel racing, one similar to F1 before dementia undermined it. This is too little too late.
Good post Is, the right driver won tho!!. so don't give up on it yet! Glad you mentioned Craw, I wish they would have voted him as a straight replacement for PornoMax.
IMO, this was The Year of the Wrong Winners. McLaren did a much cleaner job than Ferrari, but Ferrari won the WCC, despite a ton of blunders and mechanical problems. But for the WDC: Lewis never had a mechanical failure. The last three races were run on tires selected for Hamilton's hard use, so he didn't have the fragged tires from last year. His only DNF was the result of running a red light. Massa had engine failures at Australia and Hungary. So even leaving the Singapore fiasco out of the mix, Hamilton had two more races than Massa, and *still* only won by one point. Hamilton has phenomenal car control (in a car that seemed easier to drive, especially in the wet). But, so far, that's his only redeeming characteristic. He's young yet, though. He might pick up car development and setup skills, if he's not convinced that he's already the greatest thing on earth. Of course, he might decide to pursue a singing career, instead. (I really do get the impression, from his driving, that Lewis might personally be happier with rallye or drifting than F1. But, once in the "pipeline", I don't imagine he has much say in the matter.)
Admittedly, Ferrari did contribute to Massa's loss, however the FIA more than compensated, him in unfair penalty's..
