It’s no secret that the stewards in Formula One are massively inconsistent. In fact, it has been a big topic for discussion recently due to some controversial penalties. The problem is not with the regulations themselves, but rather the enforcement of them and the stewards.
It’s not really rocket science: the inconsistent rule enforcement comes from the inconsistent stewards. Each weekend, the stewards are selected. They often former drivers. They are the ones responsible for ensuring that drivers who break the regulations are punished appropriately.
The problem is that when you have different stewards each week, they all have varying opinions on how the rules should be enforced and what is acceptable and what isn’t. The key to getting consistent penalties is to have consistent stewards.
If the FIA hires a group of stewards that go to every race, they will be more likely to dish out penalties consistently because their opinion and interpretation of the rules isn’t likely to change radically over the course of the season. Most other sports have permanent referees and officials. Formula One should be the same.
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