FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has delivered a fiery rebuttal to the Formula 1 drivers' demand for permanent stewards, boldly suggesting that if they want consistent officiating, they should foot the bill themselves.
The Grand Prix Drivers' Association has been vocal about the need for full-time stewards, arguing that it would bring much-needed consistency to decision-making.
This season, there were many instances in which sanctions and penalties were handed out with seemingly little coherence relative to similar incidents, leaving drivers and teams frustrated with the lack of predictability in the stewarding process.
Decisions often varied from one race weekend to another, depending on the specific panel of stewards on duty, which further fueled the call for a permanent group of professionals who would apply a consistent standard across all events.
GPDA director George Russell argues that a unified team of stewards, working full-time and fully immersed in the sport, could eliminate discrepancies and ensure improved fairness in how rules are enforced.
"When things come down to interpretation, and when things are about consistency, you can argue if you were to have the same stewards week in, week out, the consistency will be better because they're interpreting things in the same manner and the drivers understand exactly what they expect in a given circumstance,” commented the Mercedes driver earlier this year.
"So I do feel, again a personal view, not one of on behalf of the drivers, but personal view, I do think we're at a point now in this sport that we do need a full-time professional steward in where they earn a real salary.”
But Ben Sulayem isn’t convinced the drivers fully grasp the financial implications of their demand – or that they’re willing to contribute.
“It’s very nice talk,” Ben Sulayem said in an interview with Autosport. “But when they say professional, and they want professional, they don't want to pay for it. That is so obvious."
Russell, alongside other drivers, has repeatedly called attention to a lack of transparency around where fines levied on drivers during race weekends end up.
Last month, the GPDA penned an open letter to Ben Sulayem and the FIA, raising this concern among other grievances.
But the FIA president didn’t hold back, calling out what he sees as double standards from the drivers, many of whom earn millions annually.
“They talk and then they say, ‘Where are you putting the money? Why we don't do this?’ But I don't say, ‘Oh, sorry, what about you?’ The drivers are getting over $100 million. Do I ask where they spend it? No, it's up to them. It's their right,” Ben Sulayem said.
“So please, it’s not only me saying it is none of their business. We do whatever we do with our money. It's our business. It's also [the same] with them and their money. It's their business.”
He didn’t stop there, questioning why the focus always seems to be on the FIA rather than on Formula One Management, which handles the sport’s commercial operations.
“But I don't really sometimes understand. It's always about the FIA. Why are we doing this? Why are we doing that? But did anyone go to FOM?”
Ben Sulayem’s response comparing the drivers' grievances about financial transparency to their own personal earnings comes across as an oversimplification of a much deeper issue.
While drivers earn their income through contracts, sponsorships, and performance, the FIA is entrusted with managing the sport in a way that is fair, transparent, and accountable to all stakeholders, including the teams and the drivers.
Critics could therefore argue that the FIA’s spending should absolutely be subject to scrutiny, given its role as a steward of the sport's integrity and development. In this capacity, it holds a fundamentally different responsibility compared to individual drivers.
Contrary to Ben Sulayem’s belief, drivers questioning the allocation of funds to the FIA are not invading privacy but seeking clarity on whether the governing body is reinvesting in the sport in ways that benefit all involved.
This transparency is crucial to maintaining trust, especially when stewarding decisions and resource allocation have a direct impact on the sport's fairness and competitiveness.
Ultimately however, Ben Sulayem insisted that the FIA simply doesn’t have the financial bandwidth to establish permanent stewarding roles.
"I say it again and again – stewards do not grow on trees,” he explained. “It takes time to educate them. It takes time to train them. And then you evolve them, so we have a programme.
“I see the point about having them maybe like the Premier League where they [the referees] are paid. But we don't have the money to do that.”
For now, it seems the push for permanent stewards will remain stuck in neutral – unless the drivers themselves are willing to dig deep into their own pockets. A very unlikely prospect.
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