The new era of the FIA which began post Jean Todt’s twelve year reign as president has been typified by a number of clampdowns in Formula One, some of which have not gone down well in the paddock.
Within days of Mohamed Ben Sulayem being appointed as the new president of the motorsport’s governing body, Lewis Hamilton was in the cross hairs for refusing to attend the FIA end of season gala.
The top three drivers each year are mandated to attend the annual presentation yet Hamilton refused to go following the decisions by the FIA’s race director Michael Massi during the Abu Dhabi finale which resulted in a last lap duel for the championship between Verstappen and the seven times champion.
FIA clam do under new leadership
No sooner had Hamilton been fined for his transgression than the Mercedes driver was under investigation for breaching rules banning drivers from wearing jewellery whilst behind the wheel of their F1 cars.
Next up from the authority was the decision to stamp out the sworded issue of track limits. This had been previously handled on an ad hoc basis with penalties issued during the race if a driver was found to gain an advantage by leaving the track.
The new approach under Ben Sulayem’s leadership was to deem any transgression beyond the white lines as a breach of the sporting regulations. A driver who is found a Gault for this now gets three strikes, then a black and white flag which is then followed by a penalty.
Penalties have been increased from what was usually a five second time penalty to more often than not now ten seconds. The result at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix was the stewards had referred to them some 1200 potential breaches and the final race classification was only delivered around five hours after the chequered flag.
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Number of penalty points issued rising
Further, a system of driver penalty points which was introduced in 2014 for dangerous driving, has under the eye of Ben Sulayem seen the average number of penalties issued each year rise. If a driver receives a total of twelve points during a rolling twelve month period then the FIA now issue a mandatory one race ban.
Last time out in Monza, Kevin Magnussen made an opportunistic move to pass Pierre Gasly which resulted in the Dane’s Haas touching the Alpine and forcing Gasly to cut the chicane. Neither car was damaged and the Frenchman retained his position without an loss of time.
Yet Magnussen was issued with a ten second penalty having been deemed to be in breach of Article 2 d) of Chapter IV, Appendix L, of the FIA International Sporting Code. Despite the ruling, Magnussen vehemently disagreed, questioning the consistency and fairness of the stewards’ decisions.
The irate Haas F1 driver suggested after the race the FIA were being inconsistent in their application of the regulations.
Magnussen calls out stewarding inconsistency
“I don’t understand it at all. Flat out, just completely confused,” said Magnussen in the usual round of media interviews. “Me and Gasly raced hard into turn four, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, then came back on track again, no damage to either car, and no consequence to the race of either of us.
“But I get a 10-second penalty. Then, on Lap 1, Ricciardo and Nico [Hulkenberg], Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300 kilometres an hour, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car. But he [Ricciardo] gets a five-second penalty. Where’s the logic? I just don’t get it.”
Yet worse was to come. Following the chequered flag the stewards issued Magnussen with two penalty points which took him to the dreaded total of twelve. Now for the first time since the penalty points system was introduced in 2014, a driver has been banned and Haas have been forced to look look for a replacement driver for Baku, which presumably will be rookie Oliver Bearman who has been signed as the Dane’s replacement for next season.
A number of drivers expressed their surprise at the severity of the penalty and have questioned whether the on track manoeuvre was in fact really dangerous driving.
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Alonso critical of heavy handed FIA
Elder statesman driver Fernando Alonso has now criticised the severity of the punishment arguing the decision devalues the punishment for actual dangerous driving.
“100%. Because, I mean, penalty points, as we’ve discussed many times, should be for dangerous driving, something that is a danger for the sport and for the others,” says the Aston Martin driver.
“And I think a couple of those points that he accumulated, I’m not sure. I don’t have the list here. But sometimes it’s just pit lane, white line, unsafe releases, all these kind of things. I mean, this is part of racing.”
Alonso goes on to make the point that while the on track penalties are reasonably well understood,“the safety penalties are a little bit harder to understand.” The double world champion believes there should be no penalty points for minor infractions and a pit lane unsafe release is not really a danger to anyone.
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Gasly promises to overturn ban
Even Pierre Gasly who was the victim of a lock up from the Haas driver is astounded by the severity of the ten second punishment and the subsequent penalty points. “I’m a bit surprised for that because he tried, but it was a bit of wheel to wheel and in the end I really didn’t lose any time. I’m a bit surprised,” said the Alpine driver.
He called the resulting ban for his rival “unfair” and in a remarkable turn of events has vowed to do his best to persuade the authorities’ to change their decision. I’ll see what I can do. That will feel very unfair for the incident that it was.”
Magnussen is famed for his uncompromising racing style but so is triple world champion Max Verstappen. This year in the Austrian Grand Prix he collided with Lando Norris ending the McLaren drivers day. The stewards awarded himself a ten second penalty and two penalty points taking him to four.
Unlike in days of yore, the FIA stewards are more consistent with their rulings today, yet whether their definition of dangerous driving is being interpreted properly is something the drivers do not believe to be the case.
Marko interesting insight on Newey departure
In a surprising turn of events, Helmut Marko, a key figure within the Red Bull Racing team, has made somewhat of a surprise statement regarding the departure of legendary engineer Adrian Newey. With Red Bull facing a sudden and dramatic decline in performance, many have speculated that Newey’s departure is at the heart of the team’s struggles.
However, Marko’s recent comments challenge this prevailing narrative and shed new light on the internal dynamics at play as the team struggles to regain its former dominance in the fiercely competitive world of Formula One… READ MORE
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The more Marko says the less credible he becomes. He is very lucky to have been a good friend of Didier Mateschitz.