Jonathan Wheatley disagrees with Christian Horner about FIA stewards
Sauber team boss Jonathan Wheatley has come to the defense of the FIA stewards after Red Bull director Christian Horner criticized them after the F1 Spanish Grand Prix.
Christian Horner criticized the stewards after Max Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with George Russell as they contested a position following a late restart under the Safety Car on Sunday in Barcelona.
The FIA criticized
Red Bull had asked Max Verstappen to give the position back to George Russell after a separate clash at turn 1, and the Dutchman seemed to comply, before accelerating and colliding with the Mercedes at turn 5.
The official documents published by the FIA after the race revealed that the stewards had deemed it unnecessary for Max Verstappen to give back his position, as the Mercedes driver had, in their view, initiated the contact by momentarily losing control of his car, forcing the Dutchman to widen his trajectory.
Christian Horner wants more feedback
Sunday evening, the Red Bull boss told the media that he “wants to see more immediate decisions from the race director” in order to prevent teams from having to guess what the stewards will decide.
Asked whether the request made to Max Verstappen to give back the position to George Russell turned out to be a mistake, he replied: « Yes, but I think this is where it would be helpful, as a referee, for the race director to clearly say either ‘continue’ or ‘give back the position’. »
« It is very difficult for a team to make this decision subjectively because it is based on precedents, on what is in front of them, and they try to anticipate what the stewards or the race director will think. »
« It would therefore be beneficial for the race director to make this decision directly: ‘give back the position or you will receive a penalty’, rather than having to guess what will happen. »
Jonathan Wheatley supports the FIA stewards
Jonathan Wheatley, who has worked alongside Christian Horner for years at Red Bull as sporting director, defended the FIA’s decision-making procedures in F1.
« During the 19 years I was a sporting director, I spent a lot of time trying to understand the pressures faced by the race management, putting myself in their shoes, he explained.
« It’s not always a single incident to analyze. Sometimes there are several, especially after a hectic first lap. I don’t know the exact details of what Christian wanted to express. I didn’t really follow his race as much as ours. But I spent a lot of time understanding the constraints of race management, and trying to anticipate whether or not I would get a response. »
He added: « Teams always have the ability to make these kinds of decisions themselves. They can analyze the situation, and they are very professional structures. I am certain that all the teams on the grid receive recommendations. We analyzed what happened at turn 1 very well. If we had the slightest doubt, we could have handled the situation differently, but we were very confident. »
« I have said in the past that the work of the commissioners has greatly improved in recent years. I think the FIA is doing a good job in this area. But it’s a constantly evolving process », he concluded.
