Alonso's criticism ignored: 'Stewards are independent'

Fernando Alonso has complained more and more about the inconsistency of the penalties, but Michael Masi, however, has defended his stewards and claimed that there is no arbitrariness.

After the Russian Grand Prix, Alonso expressed his dissatisfaction with the stewards. In his opinion, drivers were given different punishments for the same incidents. Alonso has pointed to nationality, believing the British drivers have an advantage with the stewards and the media.

Race director Michael Masi, however, has argued that there is no disparity. "I don't even engage in that side of it. Every driver is entitled to their views and comments, either internally or to the media, and that's fine. The rules are applied equally for everyone. We judge each and every incident, looking at the actual incident and what occurs," Masi said to Motorsport.com.

''The stewards are an independent judiciary to review anything, and that's why they are independent to review it on that basis. They do look at everything, case by case. Yes, you can sort of compare different types of incidents, let's call it, but they are there to review each case with all of the information and data that they have available, and then ultimately make their decision'', Masi concluded.