6 hours ago
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Formula 1 needs to employment stewards connected a full-time ground successful bid to simplify the rules of the sport, says Zak Brown.
The McLaren main enforcement serviceman thinks existent rules are "overly regulated" and "overly complicated".
Brown has suggested paying stewards, who are presently unpaid volunteers, and giving them entree to much exertion successful bid to marque the close calls connected high-profile incidents.
This season, McLaren's Lando Norris has been progressive successful back-to-back arguable way battles with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with the brace being penalised for abstracted incidents astatine the United States and Mexico City Grands Prix.
"I deliberation we request full-time stewards," Brown told BBC Sport. "I don't deliberation the mode we're acceptable up arsenic a sport, we are acceptable up for success."
Verstappen made akin comments to BBC Sport connected Thursday, saying: "Do I deliberation consistency successful the penalties could beryllium better? Yes, for sure, but that lone comes with stewards that are paid - nonrecreational stewards.
"The stewards we person close now, they are doing their precise champion to what they person but successful a athletics similar this, similar successful different sports, erstwhile you person a paid committee of stewards, it works mode better.”
In Austin, Norris was fixed a five-second penalty for going disconnected the way and gaining an vantage trying to overtake Verstappen. The Briton refused to springiness the spot backmost aft Verstappen complained, highlighting helium had been up astatine the apex. The stewards, however, disagreed with Norris.
Many drivers made it wide they felt Verstappen’s driving was not just successful Austin and told the FIA that the racing guidelines needed changing to code the benignant of tactics the Dutchman had employed.
A week aboriginal successful Mexico, the 2 drivers clashed again, with Verstappen being fixed a combined 20-second penalty for 2 incidents with Norris connected the aforesaid lap. Norris called Verstappen's driving "dangerous" and flagged again that helium was up of the three-time satellite champion into the country during the archetypal tussle.
"I deliberation we request to instrumentality a measurement backmost and not over-regulate what happens connected the track. We ne'er utilized to bash that successful Formula 1," said Brown.
"I deliberation we’re racing excessively overmuch to a rulebook present versus bully aged fashioned racing - conscionable springiness the stewards a small spot much discretion. They’ve raced, they cognize that a operator has been pushed disconnected oregon not, oregon made a lunge, oregon not. And not person this achromatic and achromatic rulebook."
However, Brown says helium does person assurance successful the governing body's president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, pursuing the departures of elder members of FIA unit successful the past year.
Race manager Niels Wittich, a replacement for Michael Masi successful 2022, left his relation with contiguous effect connected 12 November, with little than a period of the play remaining.
Wittich was said to person "stepped down" but helium told BBC Sport past week: "I tin corroborate that I got fired and it was not my determination to permission F1." The German has been replaced from this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix by Rui Marques.
"He doesn't messiness about. He makes decisions," Brown said of Ben Sulayem. "I deliberation we were amazed by that decision, much the timing of it."
McLaren are apical of the constructors' standings by 36 points with 3 races remaining and Brown says "it would beryllium unbelievable" if the squad could unafraid their archetypal squad rubric since 1998.
"It's hard to judge it was that agelong ago," helium added. "That's wherefore we're here. We're present to triumph satellite championships."
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