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FIA race steward stats: Who's the strictest?

Published on 11 Aug 2017 13:48
9
By: Fergal Walsh

The FIA has been using the expert advice of a number of former racing drivers for a number of years. These former racers are handed the task of overviewing and investigating incidents that happen during a race, and hand out a punishment if one is necessary.

Since the start of 2014, fourteen drivers have been taken in. Mick Doohan, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass and Adrian Fernandez have all just appeared on one occasion. The FIA seem more keen on the likes Derek Warwick (11 times), Danny Sullivan (11 times) and Emanuele Pirro (10 times).

Tom Kristensen and Mika Salo have also been stewards on five occasions each, while Martin Donnelly, Nigel Mansell, Derek Daly, Mark Blundell and Alan Jones have been advisors several times. From the figures, it appears that Derek Warwick is the harshest steward.

Here are the figures from the seventy races from the start of 2014;

Steward	Races	Penalties issued	Penalty points issues
Dereck Warwick	11	20	36
Emanuele Pirro	10	16	33
Mika Salo	7	13	25
Danny Sullivan	11	13	24
Martin Donnelly	5	7	14
Mark Blundell	3	6	13
Derek Daly	4	5	11
Tom Kristensen	7	5	10
Alan Jones	5	4	9
Mick Doohan	1	3	7
Emerson Fittapaldi	1	2	4
Nigel Mansell	3	1	2
Jochen Mass	1	1	1
Adrian Fernandez	1	0	0

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Replies (9)

boudy

Posts: 1,168
Derek warwick... as good a steward now as driver. Absolute idiot.
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- Aug 11 2017 - 17:18
Squirrel10

Posts: 36
Maths not a strong point but M Salo has dished out more points perfect race attended than D Warwick .... I think
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- Aug 11 2017 - 21:03
- Squirrel10
  
  Posts: 36
  ... points PER race .... (poxy autocorrect)
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  Aug 11 2017 - 21:05
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  They are pretty even. On average, Warwick has dealt 1,82 penalties per race, and 3,27 penalty points per race, whereas Salo has dealt 1,86 penalties per race and 3,57 penalty points per race. The difference is pretty negligible.
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  Aug 13 2017 - 11:09
Barron

Posts: 625
I've met Derek and he's a thoroughly nice chap so I'm surprised. But I think the real reason he gets asked back is exactly because he is hard on the rules. The problem with having drivers adjudicate is that they would naturally be soft on fellow drivers. However, it's worth noting that these people are "advisors" and there are several other stewards present, so to say that they actually issue penalties is more than a bit disingenuous to say the least.
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- Aug 12 2017 - 11:33
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  The issue I have with penalties that the stewards are soft on mercedes and ferrari yet harder on the others. Bottas should have had penalty for taking drivers out, vettel should have been punished more, Hamilton never gets a penalty even if cuts corners. Derek has a record of punishing curtain drivers more than others and giving merc and ferrari an easy ride. For me he is the worst and he has spoiled races.
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  Aug 12 2017 - 21:11
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I dont really think the amount of penalties matter as much as for what they were issued. Some races has been more chaotic than others, so its natural that stewards who were working on those races will have issued more penalties than others.
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- Aug 13 2017 - 11:13
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  The issue is not the amount of penalties but its who is getting the penalties and who's not. Some stewards are not consistant.
  + 0
  
  Aug 13 2017 - 21:13
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  True.
  + 0
  
  Aug 13 2017 - 22:03