Former Ferrari and Williams engineer Rob Smedley has proposed the introduction of an 'augmented steward group' to speed up decision-making during Formula 1 Grands Prix. The suggestion comes amid fierce criticism over inconsistent stewarding that has recently plagued the sport.
F1 has indeed faced a storm of criticism regarding stewards' decisions, which many consider inconsistent. From Lewis Hamilton's comments about his penalties at the Hungarian GP to the controversy over Pierre Gasly's reinstated Monaco GP podium, which was later revoked, these decisions have raised questions about the effectiveness of race control.
Smedley, now a respected racing analyst, spoke on the High Performance Racing podcast. He highlighted the frequent delays in decisions until after races. "You watch some of these '[Incident] will be investigated after the race' [messages], and you just think this is fairly obvious," he said. "Now, the reason why they do this, if you go behind the scenes, is because all the stewards are super busy with the race, right? You can't stop the race and say, 'Let the stewards decide.' But there could be an augmented steward group that is able to process these much faster."
According to Smedley, stewards currently lack the capacity to process every incident as it happens during races. With a dedicated group handling in-race incidents, decisions could be made more quickly without waiting until after the race. He also suggested that post-race investigations should only be for truly complex incidents. "When it's after the race, you should still have the possibility to be investigated after the race, but only for really complex stuff. It should just get processed through," he added.
Furthermore, Smedley explained that some matters must be examined after the race due to their technical nature. "There's been tons of those, right? Too much plank wear, rear wings at the wrong height, slot gap too open, too closed, whatever it is, underweight, all of those things. You've got to take into account," he said. "It is a technical sport, and because of that, you can only arbitrate on the technicalities of the sport after the race because you've got to measure."
If implemented, this proposal could potentially reduce the level of inconsistency in decisions. Currently, the FIA as the sport's governing body is often criticized by teams, drivers, and fans. With an augmented steward group, decisions could be more consistent and quicker, without disrupting the race.
Smedley's suggestion is certainly worth considering. Will the FIA take this idea into account? Only time will tell. What's clear is that Formula 1 fans are hoping for improvements in the race control system to prevent similar controversies from recurring.
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