Who Are The F1 Stewards?

The F1 stewards are a panel of four officials appointed by the FIA for each race weekend to ensure that the event is conducted according to the regulations and principles of fair play by investigating on-track incidents and applying penalties for rule violations. They are responsible for enforcing the F1 sporting regulations and are different for each race weekend to ensure impartiality.

F1 Stewards Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Incident review: Stewards assess video, data, and team radio to determine the cause and circumstances of any race-related event.
• Rule enforcement: They interpret and apply the FIA Sporting Code and Formula 1 regulations to maintain sporting integrity.
• Penalty decisions: Depending on the outcome of their analysis, they can issue sanctions such as time penalties, grid drops, or disqualifications.
• Maintaining fairness: The stewards work to ensure that every competitor adheres to the rules under safe and consistent conditions.

F1 Stewards Composition and Selection

• The stewarding panel typically includes individuals with deep motorsport experience, including former drivers and licensed officials.
• Stewards serve as volunteers and rotate between events to preserve objectivity and avoid potential conflicts of interest.
• The FIA is responsible for selecting the stewards for each Grand Prix and managing the pool from which they are drawn.

What Do F1 Stewards Do?

F1 stewards are tasked with applying the regulations set out in the FIA International Sporting Code and the F1 Sporting Regulations. They operate independently from race control and team management to ensure that decisions are made based solely on the facts of each case. Their work spans every session of the race weekend, from free practice through to the final classification after the chequered flag.

Rule Enforcement During Race Weekends

At every Grand Prix, the stewards oversee compliance with the sporting rulebook. This includes reviewing matters ranging from track limits to pit lane behaviour. They interpret written regulations and apply them to real-time events, using both precedent and context to determine whether a breach has occurred. Stewards also review actions taken by race control and ensure that instructions issued by the Race Director are followed by all competitors.

Stewards are empowered to summon team representatives and drivers if clarification or explanation is required. These hearings are conducted formally and often involve video evidence, telemetry, and radio transcripts. While the Race Director manages the race’s procedural flow, the stewards retain sole authority over regulatory enforcement and penalty application.

During qualifying, stewards may review impeding incidents, unsafe releases, or technical infringements. During the race itself, they focus on incidents such as contact between cars, gaining an advantage off track, or breaches of safety car protocols. Post-race, they ensure all time penalties and investigations are resolved before final results are declared.

The breadth of their authority allows them to intervene in any situation where they believe sporting integrity has been compromised. This makes their role essential in maintaining both fairness and safety throughout the entire event.

How Stewards Investigate Incidents

The process of incident investigation begins with a report or automatic flag raised by systems within race control. An incident may be noted by the Race Director, flagged by a team, or picked up by live monitoring systems. Once referred to the stewards, the incident becomes a formal matter of review, requiring collection and evaluation of evidence.

Key materials include onboard camera footage, external broadcast angles, team radio, and telemetry data. These are assessed side by side to reconstruct the sequence of events. In some cases, data overlays are used to compare driver inputs and speeds. This level of detail enables the stewards to determine whether a driver acted intentionally, made a mistake, or was reacting to another competitor.

Once the evidence is compiled, the stewards may call involved parties to a hearing. These are private, structured sessions where each side can present its account. Drivers and team personnel may provide supporting data or context to help explain a decision or defend against a charge. The stewards may ask specific technical questions or refer to similar precedents from past races.

Only after all relevant material is reviewed does the panel reach a unanimous or majority decision. The ruling is then communicated via an official FIA document, which outlines the incident, the regulation breached, and the rationale behind the penalty or non-action. This process reinforces transparency and consistency, even when rulings are disputed.

Types of Penalties Stewards Can Apply

F1 stewards have a defined set of sanctions available to them, depending on the nature and severity of a breach. The penalty must fit the context of the offence and must not interfere disproportionately with the integrity of the competition. The list of penalties is standardised in the Sporting Code and includes both in-race and post-race measures.

In-race penalties may include:

• Time penalties: Typically five or ten seconds added to the driver’s race time. These can be served during a pit stop or added after the finish.
• Drive-through penalties: The driver must enter the pit lane without stopping, losing significant time.
• Stop-and-go penalties: The driver must stop in the pit box for a specified time before rejoining the race.
• Warning or reprimand: These are formal notices issued for less severe breaches.

Post-race penalties can include:

• Grid penalties: Applied to the next race, these drop a driver a set number of places from their qualifying position.
• Time additions: These can alter finishing positions if an incident was unresolved during the race.
• Disqualification: In rare cases, a driver may be removed from the results entirely.
• Penalty points: These are added to a driver’s super licence and can result in a race ban if a threshold is exceeded.

The stewards are required to explain their reasoning in official documentation, which is made public. This contributes to accountability and allows teams, media, and fans to understand how decisions were reached.

How Are F1 Stewards Appointed?

Each race weekend features a new panel of stewards tasked with interpreting and enforcing the FIA Sporting Regulations. The appointment process is structured and regulated by the FIA to ensure neutrality, consistency in process, and technical competency. While the core regulatory framework remains constant across all events, the people applying those rules vary by design.

Who Selects the Stewarding Panel

The stewarding panel for each Formula 1 event is appointed by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which serves as the sport’s governing body. For every Grand Prix, the FIA selects a minimum of three officials to form the core of the panel. These individuals are drawn from a global pool of experienced motorsport stewards who are licensed to officiate at the highest level.

The panel includes:

• A permanent FIA steward, who provides continuity and familiarity with the interpretation of key rules.
• A national steward, appointed by the national sporting authority (ASN) of the host country. This person brings local operational knowledge to the event.
• A former driver, selected for their competitive experience and insights into racecraft.

The FIA ensures all appointed stewards hold an International Grade A stewarding licence. This credential is separate from a racing super licence and confirms that the individual has undergone rigorous training in regulatory application, incident analysis, and FIA procedural standards. The final selection also takes into account language skills, prior experience at that circuit, and performance in past stewarding roles.

Once appointed, the panel functions independently of the Race Director and is not involved in running the race schedule or issuing instructions to teams. Their sole responsibility is to enforce the rules impartially and transparently.

Role of the Driver Steward in Decision Making

The inclusion of a driver steward became mandatory in 2010 to enhance the decision-making process by incorporating the perspective of someone with firsthand competitive experience. The FIA selects a driver with significant history in top-level motorsport, often including past or present F1 competitors, World Endurance Championship entrants, or other FIA-regulated series professionals.

The driver steward’s role is advisory but integral. They participate in all deliberations and help the panel understand the intent behind a driver’s actions in high-speed or high-pressure scenarios. For example, the driver steward might assess whether a defensive manoeuvre was reasonable, whether a line taken into a corner was consistent with racecraft norms, or whether contact between cars was unavoidable.

The aim is to improve the panel’s ability to distinguish between deliberate infractions, racing incidents, and genuine errors. While all stewards vote equally on each case, the insight of a professional driver can tip the balance in nuanced decisions involving wheel-to-wheel action, spatial awareness, and driver intent.

Over time, experienced driver stewards such as Emanuele Pirro and Derek Warwick have contributed to precedent-setting decisions, influencing how certain types of incidents are interpreted across seasons. Their presence adds an additional technical layer to what might otherwise be a strictly procedural review process.

Rotation and Why Decisions May Vary

The stewarding panel for each Formula 1 race is intentionally rotated. This system is intended to eliminate potential bias and to prevent conflicts of interest by drawing upon a large pool of accredited officials for each event. While this approach supports fairness, it introduces variability in the interpretation of regulations.

Stewards are guided by the same FIA Sporting Code and are provided with written guidelines to support consistency. However, no two on-track incidents are exactly alike. Situational context, driving conditions, and the behaviour of involved drivers often make incidents difficult to categorise definitively. This leads to differences in interpretation from one race to another, especially in cases involving wheel-to-wheel contact or overtaking.

In recent years, drivers and teams have become increasingly vocal about this inconsistency. Carlos Sainz, who represents the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, has been a leading advocate for the implementation of permanent stewards to address this issue. Speaking after successfully having part of his Dutch Grand Prix penalty rescinded by submitting new evidence, Sainz stated:

“It’s a breakthrough because it’s the first time that I’ve managed to present new evidence and accept a hearing.

“We tried before and we never managed in other teams, so it shows that the mechanism is there and is there for a reason, which I’m finally happy that we can use that mechanism in the case where it’s black and white like it was in my case.”

Sainz had been penalised with two super licence points for a collision with Liam Lawson, but video footage from new angles convinced the FIA stewards that it had been a racing incident. The penalty points were rescinded, but the situation reignited concerns about inconsistent enforcement.

Despite the presence of published guidelines outlining who holds the right to the corner in various racing scenarios, interpretations vary. Sainz acknowledged the limitations of this framework:

“I think the guidelines have been an effort to make it very clear for the stewards and the drivers to know who is likely to have responsibility [in a collision], but I’m not going to lie, I think they haven’t had the impact that we all wish they had in terms of making it clearer.”

The FIA currently has a pool of over 20 eligible stewards and selects four for each Grand Prix. The idea of introducing permanent stewards has been raised previously but not adopted. One rationale against it has been the logistics and cost of funding full-time positions across a 24-race calendar. Sainz dismissed that concern:

“As a group, the FIA, if we all agree that should be the way forward where at least two of the three stewards are permanent and we have one rotational for teaching purposes and sporting fairness purposes to have always one rotational but two permanent, I think we shouldn’t care about who pays because there’s enough money in this sport to pay those salaries the same way that there’s enough money in this sport to pay the salaries of all the other people.

“If [permanent stewards] is the right way forward I cannot believe we’re talking about those salaries.”

He also pointed to the benefits of consistency through other roles in the sport, such as the appointment of a fixed Race Director:

“We have it with the race director, I’m really enjoying this new race director, the approach he has and we’re starting to understand the kind of decisions that he’s going to take and the relationship is growing thanks to working now for a year with him.

“I see him being in the sport for quite a long time and we’re not changing race director every race, we have a fixed race director and I see the benefits that that gives to the sport and the development with the drivers and the development of the relationship.”

The debate continues within the paddock. Proponents of rotation argue that it protects the neutrality of the process and avoids long-term bias. Others, like Sainz, believe that a core group of permanent stewards would allow drivers and teams to better understand how decisions are made and increase trust in the process.

What Is the Difference Between Race Control and the Stewards?

Race control and the stewards operate in parallel throughout a Formula 1 race weekend, but they perform fundamentally different roles. Race control manages the live execution of the event, ensuring safety, timing, and adherence to the schedule. The stewards, on the other hand, act as an independent judiciary, reviewing incidents and applying penalties based on the Sporting Regulations and the International Sporting Code.

The distinction lies in their authority and scope. Race control acts immediately, often within seconds, to maintain operational continuity. The stewards assess incidents retrospectively or in real time if necessary, but they work independently from race control. Both departments are essential to ensure fairness and safety during a Grand Prix.

Role of the Race Director and Their Team

The Race Director is appointed by the FIA and is responsible for overseeing the procedural and safety elements of a race weekend. For the 2025 season, Rui Marques holds this position. He operates from race control alongside key personnel including the Deputy Race Director, the Clerk of the Course, the Permanent Starter, and other FIA officials.

Race control is the command centre for the entire event. It monitors every session via a comprehensive array of camera feeds, live telemetry, GPS data, and radio communications from all 20 cars and every marshal post. The Race Director uses this information to ensure that every element of the weekend proceeds in accordance with the FIA regulations and schedule.

Key duties of the Race Director include:

• Declaring the track conditions safe for racing
• Starting and stopping sessions
• Deploying the Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car
• Managing red flag procedures
• Authorising the removal of stricken vehicles
• Ensuring marshal safety across the circuit

While the Race Director does not impose sporting penalties, his decisions can trigger steward investigations. His primary concern is race execution, not fault assessment.

Real-Time Operations Versus Post-Incident Judgment

Race control focuses on maintaining the live flow of the event. Its interventions are largely immediate and operational, such as deploying a Safety Car after an incident or deciding whether conditions require a session to be suspended. These decisions are made under intense time constraints and must prioritise the safety of all participants.

In contrast, the stewards are a judicial body. They analyse data after an incident has occurred, taking time to review onboard footage, marshal reports, radio transcripts, GPS overlays, and telemetry. Their function is to determine fault and apply penalties where appropriate, operating under the authority of the FIA International Sporting Code.

Race control decisions include:

• Session start and end timings
• Car release timings from pit lane
• Track condition status (wet, dry, red flag)

Steward decisions include:

• Collision responsibility
• Unsafe release penalties
• Track limits infractions
• Blocking or impeding
• Breaches of parc fermé or technical rules

The split ensures that safety decisions are not delayed by disciplinary procedures and that sporting rulings are made with full consideration of the facts.

How Race Control and Stewards Interact

While race control and the stewards are separate entities, their communication is constant. The Race Director can refer incidents to the stewards or flag behaviour for further review. This referral process is not automatic; it is based on the Race Director’s discretion or direct reports from marshal sectors.

The stewards, in turn, may request additional data or clarification from race control. They can ask for GPS overlays, telemetry packets, or time-stamped radio transcripts to assist in decision-making. The Race Director acts as an information source, not an adjudicator.

Coordination between both groups is critical, particularly during Safety Car deployments, red flag periods, or incidents under double waved yellow flags. In those moments, clear communication ensures the drivers are properly informed and any investigations are launched promptly.

Ultimately, race control maintains real-time control of the event while the stewards uphold the rulebook. Their collaboration supports the dual objectives of running a safe event and preserving the sporting integrity of the championship.

How Are Penalties Decided in Formula 1?

Penalties in Formula 1 are the outcome of a structured investigative process carried out by the stewards during and after each session of a Grand Prix weekend. Their role is not only to identify potential breaches of the Sporting or Technical Regulations but also to apply a proportionate and clearly justified sanction. To achieve this, the stewards rely on extensive real-time data, procedural guidelines set out by the FIA, and defined pathways for appeal. While the tools and processes available are highly advanced, interpretation still plays a role, particularly in incidents involving driver behaviour.

Data, Radio, Video and Driver Telemetry Access

The stewards have access to a wide array of inputs to help them reach a decision on whether a regulation has been breached. This includes synchronised video footage from multiple camera angles, car-to-car telemetry, GPS tracking, pit-to-driver radio transmissions, and high-fidelity audio logs. These tools are provided by Formula 1 Management and the FIA’s technical systems to give stewards a complete situational overview.

Key inputs available to the stewards include:

• Onboard footage from all 20 cars, which is time-coded and can be replayed frame by frame
• GPS-based positioning data showing each car’s trajectory through a corner or incident zone
• Brake and throttle traces, steering input, and gear selection from the cars involved
• Radio communications between drivers and their race engineers
• CCTV and broadcast footage from circuit cameras

This combination allows the stewards to determine, for example, if a driver left racing room during a wheel-to-wheel battle, whether a car gained an advantage by exceeding track limits, or if a team failed to instruct a driver to give back position after an illegal overtake. The data is often presented alongside precedents and relevant articles of the FIA Sporting Code to ensure a decision aligns with established interpretations.

Timeline for Investigations and Decisions

Not all incidents are investigated in real time. While many breaches are flagged during the race via a “noted” or “under investigation” message, others may be referred to the stewards after the session ends, particularly if additional data is required or if the incident occurs on the final lap.

Investigations typically follow a sequence:

1. Incident is noted or reported by Race Control, a team, or observed by the stewards themselves
2. Stewards gather initial evidence, including telemetry and video feeds
3. If needed, the drivers or team representatives are summoned to a formal hearing
4. After reviewing all data and testimonies, the stewards deliberate and issue a ruling

Some decisions, such as those involving unsafe releases or clear-cut track limit violations, can be made within minutes. More complex incidents may take longer, especially when new evidence is submitted during a post-race hearing. In most cases, the FIA strives to issue final decisions before the podium ceremony to avoid altering race results after the fact. However, for certain contentious incidents or when a team lodges a protest, the ruling may be delayed until further evidence is reviewed.

All final decisions are published in official FIA documents, which include:

• A description of the incident
• Applicable rule(s) and article numbers
• Reasoning behind the ruling
• Details of the penalty applied, if any

This documentation ensures traceability and transparency, although teams and drivers may not always agree with the outcome.

Appeals and the FIA International Court of Appeal

If a team disagrees with a penalty or ruling, it may pursue the appeal process set out by the FIA’s International Sporting Code. The first step is often to request a review of the decision using new and significant evidence that was not available at the time of the original hearing. This review must be filed within 14 days of the incident.

For a review request to proceed:

• The new evidence must be material to the case
• It must not have been available during the original investigation
• The stewards must agree to reopen the case based on this evidence

If the review is rejected or if the team wishes to escalate further, the matter can be brought before the FIA International Court of Appeal (ICA), based in Paris. The ICA functions independently of the stewards and FIA race officials and is comprised of judges with legal and sporting expertise. The appeal must be filed through the team’s national motorsport authority and can take weeks or months to resolve.

While rare, successful appeals have occurred. One notable example involved Carlos Sainz in 2023, where Williams submitted new camera angles that prompted the stewards to overturn a time penalty and remove super licence points. Such cases illustrate both the complexity of decision-making in Formula 1 and the limited but critical role of procedural review.

Notable and Controversial Stewarding Decisions

Formula 1 has witnessed several stewarding decisions that have not only influenced individual races but also prompted wider debate about regulatory interpretation and procedural consistency. Some incidents have been pivotal in title outcomes, while others have triggered regulatory reviews or long-term structural changes. Each example below highlights the scope of stewarding authority and the lasting impact of their rulings on the sport’s narrative.

1984 Monaco Grand Prix – Premature Red Flag

In torrential rain during the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, race control deployed the red flag after just 31 of the scheduled 76 laps. The decision was officially taken on safety grounds, but it came at a crucial moment when Ayrton Senna, in only his sixth Formula 1 start, was rapidly catching race leader Alain Prost. The conditions were difficult, but Senna’s pace in the underpowered Toleman suggested the race result could have changed had it continued.

The red flag timing meant the race result was taken from the lap before the stoppage, awarding Prost the win and Senna second place. Under the regulations at the time, only half points were awarded because less than 75 percent of the race distance had been completed.

The decision was not made by the stewards directly but was influenced by race director Jacky Ickx, who unilaterally made the call. Ickx’s ties to Porsche, the engine supplier to McLaren (Prost’s team), raised concerns about potential conflict of interest. The fallout led to Ickx being suspended from race director duties and a revision of procedures to limit unilateral decisions of this nature. The stewards were not directly responsible for the call, but the incident underscored the importance of transparency and procedural checks between race control and stewarding oversight.

1989 Japanese Grand Prix – Senna Disqualified

The 1989 title-deciding clash between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at Suzuka became one of the most contentious stewarding decisions in F1 history. On lap 47, as Senna attempted an overtake at the chicane, Prost turned in and the two collided. Prost retired immediately, while Senna rejoined the race by cutting the chicane and went on to win.

After the race, the stewards disqualified Senna for rejoining the track incorrectly and failing to complete the full lap by the defined route. This decision handed Prost the World Championship. McLaren lodged a protest, but the disqualification was upheld by the FIA.

The FIA President at the time, Jean-Marie Balestre, was accused of favouritism towards Prost, a fellow Frenchman. Senna and McLaren argued that the track rejoin had been cleared by the marshals and that Senna had won the race fairly. The incident led to a breakdown in trust between the drivers, teams, and governing body, with Senna later accusing the FIA of manipulating the championship outcome.

In regulatory terms, the case reinforced the need for clarity around track rejoining procedures and the boundaries of chicane usage, eventually leading to stricter enforcement guidelines and circuit modifications to prevent similar ambiguity.

1998 British Grand Prix – Schumacher’s Pit Lane Win

The 1998 British Grand Prix ended with one of the most bizarre applications of a time penalty in Formula 1. Michael Schumacher had been issued a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for overtaking under safety car conditions. However, due to a delay in communication and procedural confusion, Ferrari received the penalty notification late.

Schumacher entered the pit lane on the final lap of the race and crossed the finish line at the entry of the Ferrari pit box, technically serving his penalty while winning the race. Because the finish line at Silverstone was located before the pit garages, Schumacher’s pit entry counted as a completed lap.

The stewards confirmed the result, ruling that Schumacher had fulfilled the letter of the regulation even if the spirit had been circumvented. McLaren and several other teams criticised the decision as a procedural loophole, and the FIA subsequently reviewed how stop-and-go penalties were enforced.

As a result, regulations were amended to prevent penalties being served on the final lap and to clarify the timing and method of penalty communication between race control, teams, and stewards. The incident remains a textbook example of how regulatory grey areas can alter race outcomes.

2019 Canadian Grand Prix – Vettel’s Penalty

Sebastian Vettel led most of the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix in his Ferrari, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. On lap 48, under pressure from Hamilton, Vettel ran wide at Turn 3 and rejoined the circuit across the grass at Turn 4. In doing so, he squeezed Hamilton towards the wall, forcing the Mercedes driver to back off.

The stewards issued Vettel a five-second time penalty for rejoining the track unsafely and forcing another car off track. Although Vettel crossed the finish line first, the time penalty dropped him to second behind Hamilton.

Vettel was furious with the decision, arguing that he had no control over the car when rejoining and had not intentionally blocked Hamilton. In protest, he swapped the first and second place markers in parc fermé and refused to join the official post-race celebrations.

The decision reignited debate over how stewarding discretion was applied, especially in incidents involving off-track excursions under pressure. Critics argued that the ruling discouraged hard racing and punished natural racing errors. The FIA defended the decision as being consistent with the safety-first mandate and with established precedent.

This race remains one of the most debated in recent memory, particularly for how it impacted the perception of stewarding fairness and the limits of driver intent versus outcome.

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Safety Car Procedure

The 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi concluded with one of the most controversial stewarding and race control episodes in Formula 1 history. A late-race crash for Nicholas Latifi brought out the safety car on lap 53 of 58, with Lewis Hamilton leading and Max Verstappen second but on fresher tyres.

In the closing laps, Race Director Michael Masi instructed only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves, deviating from the standard procedure that either all or none should unlap. The safety car was brought in at the end of that same lap, allowing for a one-lap shootout. Verstappen overtook Hamilton to win the race and the World Championship.

The decision was challenged by Mercedes, but the stewards upheld the result, citing that the Race Director had overriding authority under Article 15.3 of the FIA Sporting Regulations. However, widespread backlash followed. The FIA conducted a formal review, which acknowledged that the procedures had not been followed fully and that the decision had contributed to confusion and controversy.

This event led directly to structural reforms within the FIA:

• Michael Masi was removed from his role as Race Director
• A Virtual Race Control Room was introduced
• Radio communications between Race Control and teams were restricted
• Guidelines on safety car procedures were revised and clarified

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix led to multiple governance changes within Formula 1, including the removal of the Race Director, updates to safety car regulations, and the introduction of a Virtual Race Control Room.

Why Stewarding Matters in Formula 1

Stewarding in Formula 1 is not a background administrative role. It is a cornerstone of race governance that ensures the integrity, safety, and fairness of the championship. With every on-track incident, strategic manoeuvre, or contentious moment, the stewards are tasked with applying the FIA Sporting Code to maintain competitive balance and protect participants. The technical, regulatory, and political weight carried by their decisions affects not just race outcomes but championship narratives, team reputations, and sporting credibility.

Upholding safety and sporting fairness

The first and most essential responsibility of the stewarding panel is to safeguard both the safety of participants and the fairness of competition. Formula 1 operates at the edge of technical and human limits. The cars are capable of speeds exceeding 350 kilometres per hour, and the margin for error is often measured in centimetres. Stewards are entrusted with enforcing the FIA International Sporting Code and the Formula One Sporting Regulations to ensure that all teams and drivers adhere to the same set of standards.

This includes responding to dangerous driving, enforcing track limits, assessing avoidable contact, and reviewing mechanical infringements. In doing so, they reduce the risk of collisions, protect the integrity of results, and ensure that all competitors have a fair opportunity to succeed.

Typical stewarding interventions relating to safety and fairness include:

• Penalising unsafe re-entries or blocking manoeuvres that endanger other drivers
• Investigating mechanical irregularities that could result in dangerous failures
• Enforcing qualifying and race procedure regulations to preserve order and predictability
• Ensuring that all cars meet technical compliance during and after the race

The application of penalties is not punitive in nature but designed to discourage actions that compromise safety or distort competitive outcomes.

Challenges of applying rules in dynamic conditions

The complexity of stewarding in Formula 1 lies in applying fixed regulations to variable real-world scenarios. No two on-track incidents are identical. Weather conditions, tyre performance, driver visibility, track layout, and the context of a race situation all influence how an event should be judged. Stewards must process a wide range of data in real time or post-session and account for all relevant factors before reaching a verdict.

The stewards rely on:

• Multi-angle onboard and trackside camera footage
• Radio transcripts between drivers and teams
• Car telemetry, including throttle, brake, and steering inputs
• Race control communications and marshal reports

They must also interpret the intent and behaviour of drivers, which can introduce a degree of subjectivity. For example, contact during a last-lap battle for position may be seen as acceptable racing in one context but penalised as avoidable contact in another. This fluidity in race circumstances challenges stewards to maintain consistency without oversimplifying context-specific events.

Moreover, with high stakeholder scrutiny and multi-million dollar outcomes at stake, every decision is examined by teams, media, and fans in detail. The demand for transparent, well-reasoned verdicts continues to grow as technology enables deeper public analysis.

Evolution of stewarding in modern F1

Stewarding has changed significantly over the past two decades. In the early 2000s, decisions were made by small panels with limited access to video footage or telemetry. Today, the stewarding process is supported by comprehensive digital infrastructure, a dedicated race support facility in Geneva, and real-time data feeds from every car on the grid.

Key developments include:

• The introduction of the driver steward role in 2010, giving the panel first-hand racing perspective
• The use of live data streams and expanded video review systems to support evidence-based decisions
• The establishment of standardised post-race report formats to improve transparency and record-keeping
• Enhanced coordination with the FIA’s Remote Operations Centre, allowing for faster investigations

Despite these technical improvements, pressure continues to mount for the introduction of permanent or semi-permanent stewarding roles to improve consistency across events. Recent comments by drivers such as Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton have amplified calls for reform, citing varying interpretations of identical incidents across race weekends.

Modern stewarding must now balance the use of advanced systems with the human judgement required to assess intention, context, and nuance. As the sport evolves, the role of the stewards is increasingly central to ensuring that the regulations are applied with both rigour and fairness, without losing sight of the competitive spirit that defines Formula 1.

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