We know a little more about the reasons why Sebastian Vettel was in a bad mood during the driver briefing in Austria: the Aston Martin F1 driver was even sentenced to a heavy fine for it (see our article).
Sebastian Vettel is not the only driver to be unhappy: in reality, a sling seems to be asking for a return to more consistency in the decisions of the stewards. In particular by appointing a single race director and not two, as at the moment.
George Russell, who chairs the GPDA with Sebastian Vettel, spoke about it. He wants much more consistency on the penalties or on the track limits which are a problem this weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
“It’s very difficult for the FIA, very difficult for the drivers, there have been a lot of limit decisions or manoeuvres, whether it’s defense or track limits in a race scenario like the weekend. last end at Silverstone. »
“We don’t want to hand out penalties left and right but there has to be an element of consistency somewhere, we have to look at the root cause of the problems and with these track limits the problem is the circuit. »
“We will never solve this problem until you solve the problems of the circuit. With turn 4 here in Austria, on the track limits, you will never have a problem [à cause du gravier], but compare it to Turn 1 or Silverstone last week, you’ll still have that problem here, so yeah. »
“I agree that we need to stick to one race director, we need to be more consistent with the marshals. We get to the next event and often the previous event stewards aren’t there, so there’s no accountability or explanation of decisions. »
“We ask questions and it’s hard to get a straight answer because – I wouldn’t say blame… but the blame is on someone else who isn’t there. It’s tricky, everyone has their own interpretations. »
Does George Russell personally blame Eduardo Freitas or Niels Wittich?
“Everyone learns, we learn how the new race directors react, they learn what we want and need as drivers. »
“I don’t envy them, it’s not an easy job at all, but we just want consistency. »
“Yesterday was just a meeting where we talked about specific topics, but over the year a number of riders have commented on this. When you had a race director things were consistent. »
George Russell therefore calls on the FIA to have a single race director, like last year with Michael Masi.
“During the year a number of drivers have made this comment: when you have one race director things can usually be more consistent. »