Criticism of Stewards face critic: 'Sometimes we wait hours for a decision'

There was a lot of criticism of the stewards' race management and decisions in Formula 1 last season and it is not very different in 2022. David Coulthard recently told Channel 4 that, in his view, it takes far too long for the stewards to reach decisions in certain situations.

In the Singapore Grand Prix, Sergio Perez crossed the line first, but his victory was not entirely certain for a long time. Because of two incidents under the safety car, the stewards still had to consider whether Perez had complied with the regulations and whether he should not be returned to second place through time penalties. Only hours after the finish came clarity: the Mexican did not have to hand in his win.

“Sometimes we have been waiting hours to get a result from the stewards. I know there has to be a fair process. But people switched off their televisions and computers all around the world last week [Singapore] and went to bed before the official result was announced," Coulthard said.

The former Formula One driver understands that judging some incidents and handing out any penalty is sometimes not easy, but the Scot stresses that it is in no one's interest to wait hours after the race is over for the final result. "That can’t be right. When the whistle blows at full-time in a football match. There are no appeals afterward about the result. That’s it."

F1 drivers are not quite satisfied yet either

There have been reforms at the FIA in terms of race management this year. For example, Michael Masi has been shown the door and two replacements have been brought in Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas. The drivers are clearly not yet overenthusiastic about the two new race directors. Wittich and Freitas have been accused by several drivers of not being consistent enough in judging incidents and handing out penalties.