On the eve of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship season, a meeting hosted by FIA Formula 1 Stewards provided a forum for constructive dialogue on the future evolution of driving guidelines and stewarding in the world’s premier racing series
Chairman of the FIA Stewards in Formula 1, Garry Connelly, hosted the meeting which, apart from the team of FIA Stewards, gathered Formula 1 drivers and teams’ representatives as well as representation of the FIA’s Race Control, including Race Director Rui Marques.
The purpose of the meeting was to further define the rights and responsibilities of the driver who performs an overtake and the driver being overtaken, thus encourage wheel-to-wheel racing in a safe and controlled manner and as well as to advance consistency of Stewards’ decisions.
“The meeting was the most productive one we’ve [ever] attended,” Connelly admitted. “The drivers were fantastic with their input. Very constructive. There was not one negative comment. There was no finger-pointing. It was very inspiring to see the world’s best drivers, communicating clearly and speaking constructively on how we can improve the Driving Standard Guidelines to the benefit of the drivers and to make all of our jobs easier.
“As Stewards, we are not here to inflict pain on drivers. We’re 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 go.
“We have an open-door policy. The door to the Stewards’ room is always open to any driver who wants to come up and talk to us about a decision that’s been taken either in relation to them or in relation to any other driver. We think Thursday’s meeting emphasised that open-door policy.
“The Driving Standard Guidelines are a living document, so every year, as the F1 Stewards we try to meet with the drivers, sporting directors and FIA representatives, to see if we need to tweak the guidelines to use 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 and teams and the FIA agree that they want rules or guidelines to allow more aggressive driving, we’ll apply those rules or guidelines. Likewise, if they want stricter driving standards, we’ll apply those,” he concluded.
FIA’s Single-Seater Sporting Director Tim Malyon was very much aligned with Connelly’s perception of the meeting.
“We will always try and facilitate such meetings, because gaining the feedback, the insight of the drivers, is extremely important in allowing us to evolve the guidelines in the right direction,” Malyon summarised the meeting during which several case studies were broken down, particularly overtakes from this year’s United States Grand Prix.
“We’ve had some very constructive driver meetings at the last few races, and this was a specific meeting set up to provide the space for that dialogue to continue, so that we can have the open exchange that we need with the drivers in order to be able to evolve the guidelines for next year,” said Malyon.
“We typically hold a meeting like that at least once a year, sometimes twice a year, depending on the topics that arise. This year we’ve timed this meeting following the constructive discussions in Mexico and Austin.”
The former FIA Safety Director also spoke about the role the circuits themselves, especially the run-off areas, play when it comes to the drivers’ approach to wheel-to-wheel action.
“As the FIA, we work continuously with circuits to evolve in many ways. Obviously, we are working on the safety aspect of circuits. But what that meeting highlighted is that there are a number of considerations on the sporting side, which we can prioritise for circuits going forward,” he explained.
“As we have done this year, we introduced the gravel traps, starting in Austria, and obviously, with this weekend being perhaps the most obvious with gravel traps added in a in a number of places. We continue to work with circuits on all topics, but it was very useful in yesterday’s meeting to get the insight of the drivers and see how they prioritize the gravel track concept, not only for track limits, but also for managing some of the situations that have arisen with overtaking during the course of the last four or five races. In all, there was a commitment to work together to find solutions that work for everyone,” Malyon concluded.
Changes to the run-off areas introduced this year include approximately 2.5m wide gravel traps that were added to Turns 9 and 10 of the Red Bull Ring as well as several news ones around Lusail International Circuit, which hosts this weekend’s GP.
FIA High Performance Programme fundamental to race officials’ development
Connelly also addressed the importance of the FIA High Performance Programme, which provides tailored training and mentorship for the sport’s best stewards and race directors in order to make them ready to perform roles at FIA World Championship level events.
“The HPP is an initiative of our President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem. One of those is here with us today, Caroline Tuta Mionki, a lady from Kenya. Our HPP programme is designed to fast-track talented young people through the system, train them and get them into FIA championships as Stewards as soon as they’re fully qualified,” he explained.
The FIA HPP has 23 participants representing 16 different FIA Member Clubs from six regions. In addition, the FIA’s Regional Stewards Training Programme gathered 195 unique participants, with the average age being 37.5 and with 42% female participation.
