George Russell calls for major F1 change after recent controversy

George Russell has suggested F1 should implement a consistent team of stewards so drivers have a better understanding of racing guidelines.

A recent incident involving Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson saw the former handed a time penalty and two penalty points on his super licence at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Williams moved to protest Sainz's penalty points as it felt the Spaniard's punishment was too severe.

Following a successful right of review process, Sainz had the two penalty points on his licence removed.

F1's stewarding team typically changes from race to race, with no permanent fixed team in place.

Russell believes situations similar to Sainz's could be avoided if a more consistent group of stewards governed on-track activities.

“I don't think there's ever going to be a time when everybody's happy,” Russell told media including RacingNews365.

“I don't remember the number, I think it's 25 different stewards across the course of a whole racing season.

“You can take 20 racing drivers, when you see a 50-50 incident, probably we'll have slightly different views on this.”

Russell suggested drivers will learn to understand how the stewards deal with certain incidents and fine-tune their own driving to meet their precedents.

“This is why I always believe these consistent stewards across the whole season, at least, you will learn their viewpoint on incidents and their interpretation of certain things,” he said.

“Carlos’ penalty probably was not deserved.

“Maybe a different stewarding, it would have been different. Maybe it wouldn't have, but at least you have that element of consistency across the races.”