Speaking amidst talks of changes to stewarding in Formula 1, McLaren boss Zak Brown shares that the team would be willing to contribute to full-time stewards for the benefit of the sport.
With the news of the FIA set to boost the professionalism of race stewarding, McLaren boss Zak Brown welcomes the proposed changes. This comes following FIA director of single seater Nikolas Tombazi discussing supplementing part time stewards with highly trained professionals.
His statement noted it is becoming unfair to expect part time volunteer stewards to take the helm of race stewarding.
“It is getting a bit unfair to just rely on people to do it out of their good heart,” Tombazi told motorsport.com. “We want to go to a more professional body in the future. That’s not to exclude volunteers, but it’s to have a body that can spend the Monday morning after a race analysing every single decision, making sure it was reached correctly, seeing what could be improved.”
In response to Tombazi’s call for more professionalism, McLaren’s Zak Brown weighed in on the matter. Brown went further, suggesting a more interpretive approach to the rule book. Brown called for a less restrictive rulebook, which in turn would leave space for interpretation by the stewards.
“To have part-time, unpaid stewards in a multi-billion-dollar sport where everything is on the line to make the right call… I don’t think we are set up for success by not having full-time stewards,” Brown said to Autosport.com.
“The individuals are fine but the rulebook is too restrictive. I’d like us to take a step back, loosen it up. Have full-time stewards who can make more of a subjective decision of whether that was right or wrong.”
One key talking point on the proposed move to full time stewards is the potential cost. With the sport currently relying on volunteer stewards, the cost of employing a full time team would be significant. The potential cost of stewarding did not deter Brown however.
On the point of cost, Brown went as far as to welcome the idea of the F1 team’s collectively absorbing the cost. He admits that, while the idea may not be popular, the cost would be relatively insignificant if shared amongst all parties.
“As far as paying for the stewards, this will probably be unpopular amongst my fellow teams,” he explained. “I’m happy if McLaren and all the racing teams contribute. It’s so important for the sport. It can’t be that expensive if everybody contributes. It’s not going to break the bank.
“What I don’t know is what’s the relationship contractually between the FIA and Formula 1 as far as what’s the level of expectations on stewarding. But at the end of the day, the agreement says part-time stewarding is not paid.”
He then went on to explain that, in order to see a necessary change in the sport, the teams have to be willing to pay the expense.
“In any business, if you want something different, it’s called a change order and if you want to change something, you have to pay for it,” he said. “So, if we have to pay for it, in the big scheme of things I do not think it will be a significant amount. If it comes back to McLaren where you pay a percentage and what F1 will pay and what the FIA will pay, if you break up that fee, it is not that much but I think it is that important.”
