I can’t stand having to talk about the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the bizarre decisions of its race directors and stewards in Formula 1.

That said, I will have to talk again about the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the bizarre decisions of its race directors and stewards in Formula 1.

What we saw last Sunday during – and after – the Saudi Arabian GP, ​​the second stage of the category’s 2023 season, was a complete travesty. Yet another chapter in an infernal spiral that began there, still in the last year of Frenchman Jean Todt’s mandate, in 2021, and which deepened with the arrival of Mohammed Ben Sulayem from the Emirates in 2022. Since then, the FIA ​​has won an uncomfortable role in F1 racing. We’ve spent too much time debating whether the rules are being applied – or not applied – rather than focusing on actions on the right track. And when the outdoors becomes more important than the sport, something is wrong. And it needs to be changed urgently.

What bothers me the most in this current phase of the FIA ​​is the clear – and intentional – waste of time with silly rules and the transformation of objective rules, which are easy to understand and have always worked, into subjective rules, leaving the decision on a possible infraction in the hands of the marshals. What was once a question of right or wrong becomes a question of interpretation. And that sucks in any sport. An example? The pit lane controversy we had at the Monaco Grand Prix last year. Until 2021, the rule stipulated that the pilot could not TOUCH the line under penalty of sanction. Since last year, the wording has changed to “CROSS THE LINE”, making the assessment completely subjective. And that’s bad for public understanding, because there won’t be a clear enough picture to ratify the commissioners’ decision. This will always generate controversy and raise doubts about judgment.

We had another example of this in the punishment of Fernando Alonso. I will return later in the text to the issue of grid alignment. I want to dwell here on the fulfillment of the sentence. We always knew we couldn’t lean against the car while the sadness five seconds were filled. But there was a verbal agreement between the teams and the FIA ​​that allowed the teams to put the jack on the car. Something that was not written. Mercedes questioned the enforcement of the sentence; the new Center for Remote Operations, the “remote VAR” in Geneva, ratified; and the stewards punished the Spaniard Aston Martin. But the English team appealed and the FIA ​​had to backtrack, returning the podium to Alonso. Once again, the FIA, by word of mouth, turned an objective and easy to understand rule into a subjective one. And he made all this mess. It is unacceptable.

Another problematic point in the performance of the FIA ​​in recent years is the excessive rigor of unnecessary rules in Formula 1. Last year, for example, the entity decided to toughen the ban on the wearing of jewelry by drivers. A rule that everyone in motorsport knew had a target: Lewis Hamilton. However, he freed the use of religious objects, such as wedding rings. Another change: it instituted the so-called “gag law”, prohibiting pilots from making political or religious demonstrations in the categories organized by it. That is to say that instead of improving the application of the rules on the track, in the technical field and improving the control of the expenditure ceiling, the FIA ​​has decided to increase the rigor in the control rules of behavior. Something that completely escapes what the entity should control in the first place: sports.

But even sport is no exception. Stupid rules, like the one Fernando Alonso fell victim to at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP, ​​began to be enforced with unusual rigor. Speaking to Luciano Burti in our video commentary of the race, he told me the Spaniard’s error gave him no advantage. Worse: the visibility of the car sometimes prevents the driver from seeing correctly the position where the car is. And if something does not give a sporting advantage, what good is sporting punishment on the track? The right thing would be a warning or even a monetary fine. And something else? As seen in the image below, several drivers were out of position at the start in Jeddah. So why was only Alonso punished? Has no sense.

It is not new that the FIA ​​race management makes serious mistakes in charge of Formula 1 races. Indeed, since the death of Charlie Whiting, a few days before the 2019 Australian GP, ​​the entity does not did not find herself. . First, he put Australian Michael Masi in the role – and we all know the disastrous end to his time in the category, with the disastrous handling and the right mistake in the final laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP , which changed the champion of this season. . Then, in 2022, he attempted a relay between the German Niels Wittich (ex-DTM) and the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas (ex-WEC), supervised by veteran engineer Herbie Blash, one of Brabham Boys, the team set up by Bernie Ecclestone when he was in charge of the traditional team in Formula 1. That didn’t work either. Errors continued to occur.

For 2023, Wittich has become a fixed role, with the support of the Remote Operations Center, the “remote VAR” in Geneva. It’s bad. Last Sunday in Jeddah, we witnessed one of the biggest mistakes in the history of safety car enforcement in Formula 1. On lap 17, Lance Stroll retired from the race with a mechanical problem at turn 13 But the Canadian got it right. : he looked for an orange needle, a point for cars to recover, and safely removed the car from the track (picture above). Not just the track, but also the clearing area. But Wittich still decided to neutralize the race with the safety car inexplicably, because the position of Stroll’s Aston Martin would not justify the safety car. Official position of the FIA: the race direction did not have images of the abandonment site. Oh my friend. Are you kidding me. A picture below shows the race management room of the 2012 Brazilian GP. In addition to the official broadcast cameras, they also have access to the circuit’s security system and the on board cars. I’m sorry but this one doesn’t exist. It is unacceptable to make such a mistake.

Commanded by the Americans of Liberty Media, Formula 1 must do something urgently about this mess laid down by the FIA ​​and its henchmen. With these confused and controversial decisions, the entity throws the credibility of the category into the water, hard rebuilt in recent years by the American company. The FIA ​​must stop playing politics. What you need to worry about is your main goal: sports. For the good of motorsport and those who work in it.