Formula One teams are demanding more from the sport’s governing body after controversy over decisions at the Qatar Grand Prix which have caused criticism within the sport and prompted McLaren to call for a review into the penalty imposed on Lando Norris.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, described the governance of the FIA as turning into a reality show and the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, suggested it was choosing how to apply its regulations on the hoof.
Max Verstappen won at the Lusail circuit on Sunday but behind his dominant drive the FIA had to weather yet another storm. The severity of the penalty imposed by the stewards on Norris, a 10-second stop-go for failing to slow under waved yellow flags that had been deployed because Alex Albon’s wing mirror had come off and lay on the track, had a major impact on the race. Norris dropped from second and finished 10th.
The British driver accepted he had deserved a penalty, as did his team. However Stella was one of many who questioned the severity of the punishment, which had a significant impact on McLaren’s efforts to secure the constructors’ championship.
“There’s a huge commitment from every team, a huge commitment from all the parties, and we need to make sure that the business is run in a way that some fundamental element of proportion and specificity is guaranteed when a penalty is applied. Otherwise, the consequences may go out of control,” he said.
“To me it looks like somewhere there must be a book with a lot of dust on the cover that was taken out: ‘Let me see what it says? Let me apply this.’”
He said the team believed the FIA should consider the scale of the penalty. “We expect that this case of applying such a severe penalty in this case will be reviewed by the FIA and there is certainly material for improvement.”
On Monday the FIA issued a statement in which it maintained that the Norris decision was in line with its previously published directions.
“The penalty was in accordance with the penalty guidelines circulated to the teams on 19 February 2024,” it said. “A double yellow flag infringement is considered a serious compromise of safety, which is why such offences carry such a severe penalty.”
There was also considerable disquiet among teams that Albon’s wing mirror had been left on track for over three laps without a safety car being deployed for it to be removed.
The mirror, which was not on the racing line but near the braking zone at turn one where drivers would be moving over for faster cars or looking for a line to overtake, was subsequently smashed into pieces by Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber, scattering debris across the track. Shortly afterwards Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz sustained punctures which may have been caused by the debris.
The FIA insisted it had followed protocols in not dealing with the wing mirror. “Normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed if there is a small amount of debris, and off the racing line,” it stated. “The extensive debris after a car hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision on a safety car. A VSC would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread-out and there is not sufficient time for a marshal to clear the debris.”
The issue was lent particular import given it was only the second meeting in charge for the new race director, Rui Marques. He had been brought in, to the surprise of F1, with three races remaining to replace Niels Wittich, who had been suddenly removed from his post.
That the mirror incident involved the new race director further raised the pressure on the FIA and its embattled president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Alongside Wittich, a string of senior figures have departed in the past 12 months, while the drivers have demanded they be treated like adults and called for financial transparency on how it spends sporting fines. Ben Sulayem responded this weekend by dismissing it as “none of their business”.
Wolff voiced concern that the FIA was in danger of reflecting negatively on the sport it governs. “It could have its own reality show with what’s happening at the moment,” he said. “I think all of our stakeholders need to bear in mind that we need to protect this holy grail of a sport and do it with responsibility and accountability and transparency. And it doesn’t come across like that.
“He can fire as many people as he wants. He is the president. Where it becomes important for the drivers and for all of us is: how does it make the decision making process better? Is the sport improving because of these changes? And if the answer to this is yes, it is an internal matter he has to handle.
“Obviously what’s in the news and the potential spillover in terms of negativity and reputation is something that is bad for all of us.”
