Formula 1 fans have shared their support for Carlos Sainz’s suggestion of using TV pundits and former F1 drivers Karun Chandhok, Anthony Davidson and Jolyon Palmer as stewards.
The Spaniard praised the analysis of recent incidents from the three former drivers while discussing the application of the F1 driving guidelines. “I’ve seen some analysis done of quite a lot of the incidents, and I think there was some of them Karun Chandhok, in some of them Jolyon Palmer, some of them Anthony Davidson,” he said.
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“Every time I see this analysis that they do and the verdict that they give from racing drivers that have been recently racing, I think they do a very good analysis and they put the blame correctly most of the time on who actually has the blame, or if it’s actually just a racing incident.”
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He added:Â “I really feel like they understood what happened in that incident and the judgement that they take. And this doesn’t mean that the stewards don’t do a good job, it just means what I see after the race from these people is actually a very high level. I think without guidelines they would be able to judge each decision correctly and there wouldn’t be a bias or anything like that.”
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Many fans backed Sainz’s suggestion in a Reddit discussion. “Then we’d also get an episode/podcast after the race with an explanation and breakdown of how and why each decision was made. That would be fantastic,” one fan wrote, while another added: “I would feel very comfortable having Ant, Karun and Jolyon as FIA stewards. Easily.”
“I love the Sky Pad segments and JP’s analysis on F1 TV. The way they break it down is always illuminating for the lay person imo [sic],” someone else wrote, and another responded: “I would, too. But I’d be very sad to miss Jolyon ‘I’ll have a go’ Palmer on the F1 TV feed.”
“Karun clearly has the most knowledge on the Sky Sports crew, and probably on the stewarding panel as well,” shared another fan.
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Others pointed to the difficulties which the current stewards face. “I like Karun and Jolyon’s analysis a lot of the time. That said, they’re not under the same level of pressure when they’re breaking something down on television. Context matters, much like when watching an event on television and the refs blow calls. I understand it’s not going to be cool to defend the stewards. I recommend everyone serve as some form of referee in their lives–it’s not easy,” one argued.
Chandhok also responded to the proposed idea. “Ha! Thanks @Carlossainz55
…. Would be good to work with the drivers and stewards for the betterment of the sport but not ready to give up the day job yet,” he wrote on X.
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