[PaddyB]

Sorry, but I disagree with you both on this one. Private views are one thing but Petrov said this stuff out to n the open in the media and Hamilton was right to point it out. As to the comment that a driver shouldn't be able to influence who is on the steward panel, well I agree to a point but using Petrov risks his decisions being questioned. I would not advocate any driver picking the names on the stewards panel but equally I think it is valid for any driver to say "this guy shouldn't be there as he might not be impartial, please swap him for someone else".

By the way, it doesn't matter who the two divers are or what was said. The fact these guys have disagreed in public makes Petrov a bad choice IMO.

Personal view is that i would agree with the Prof on this one. In my view it was Petrov who voted himself out by stating a view in public about something that he knows is a controversial topic with at least one of the drivers and potentially against the stated aims of the F1 organisation. 

By doing this he has shown that he isn't as "professionally unbiased" as needed and so should not be accepted as a Steward to keep those aspects and views to himself (which he should if he wants to be a steward).

I would say the same about any bias towards any person or personality trait. Someone with professional integrity would step down once they recognised there was a perceived conflict.

PS I will now wait with baited breath until Grosjean becomes a safety representative for FIA - one might argue he has lots of experience in the topic of unsafe driving....

Here’s a question? How far do they take this? I mean look at Petronas owned by Saudis who have one of the “WORST” human rights records they criminalise being gay among many other things? So does F1 get rid of them for what a state thinks and that it doesn’t fit what they are currently promoting? I think Petrov was stupid making the comment and used probably the worst example. Does this stop him doing his job? As much as his views disgust many people they are his views but let’s not cloud whether he can do a professional job. Not defending his dumb statement but it would be very unfair to suggest he cannot be a steward. The two things are separate imo.

In my view i don't believe he can do his "job", a large part of which is to be objective and unbiased. He has shown by his words that he has views that are contrary to those espoused by the organisation he is representing and contrary to those who he will be asked to judge in certain conditions. That in my book shows a bias and questions whether he can or cant keep that in check when stewarding. If he had kept his gob shut he might still be biased but his decisions as a steward would not have been in question.

Perhaps of an equal importance is that if he makes a judgement he will not be believed that he has done an unbiased job even if he has so the steward has to be above suspicion on that front. Bit like a judge in fact. Which is what he is when doing that "job". 

I am conscious of continuing this in the wrong thread so if someone wants to move it to new one ?

[Beano]

Yeah it is becoming overriding when it should be about  RACING or silly clashes in practise?

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All done with regarding Max and Stroll

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/artic...9hYWo.html

[pennywise]

I love the track.....and I love the fact the F1 boys don't know it like all the other tracks we go to year in and out....maybe we should do this every season....mix the calender up....More Kylami. Estoril..Mugeĺlo. Jerez..Laguna seca. Motegi...Aragon..Brno...Sachsenring and so on....it would level out the advantage the Mercs have at the usual circuits

[morini]

I am conscious of continuing this in the wrong thread so if someone wants to move it to new one ?

I think it's a valid conversation / debate and worth peoples thoughts, but does indeed detract from the Portugal race thread. I'm not the best placed to move the discussion to a new thread as I can't see all the posts. TBH I try to avoid any site moderation kind of stuff anyhow (as I admin the place). 

I made a decision to keep out of the steward "conversation strand" of this thread. I do have an opinion but I'll keep it to myself. If the mods want to move the stewarding relating comments into a new thread I won't object

On the FP sessions, P2 was a very disjointed affair today. VB looks like a man on a mission though!

[Beano]

Stroll says this and I’m inclined to agree with him especially looking at Sky’s onboard with Max. Max could of pulled out of this easily he’d of been better placed to see this coming

https://youtu.be/0AaWVdOh5jA

[The Professor]

In my view i don't believe he can do his "job", a large part of which is to be objective and unbiased. He has shown by his words that he has views that are contrary to those espoused by the organisation he is representing and contrary to those who he will be asked to judge in certain conditions. That in my book shows a bias and questions whether he can or cant keep that in check when stewarding. If he had kept his gob shut he might still be biased but his decisions as a steward would not have been in question.

Perhaps of an equal importance is that if he makes a judgement he will not be believed that he has done an unbiased job even if he has so the steward has to be above suspicion on that front. Bit like a judge in fact. Which is what he is when doing that "job". 

I am conscious of continuing this in the wrong thread so if someone wants to move it to new one ?

You have summed it up superbly there Paddy and I honestly could have typed all of that myself.

It wasn't me who posted the link to the original article but I think I should take the blame for having a strong opinion and subsequently diverting the thread down a rabbit hole. Sorry about that!

We should keep this thread about the race weekend so please feel free to move the Petrov debate elsewhere.

---

All done with regarding Max and Stroll

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/artic...9hYWo.html

Correct outcome I reckon.

Max will be smarting most though as he could (and should) have avoided that. Still, better to make your mistakes on a Friday as opposed to a Sunday.

[Antilochos]

The whole Verstappen thing, I don't get all the fuss.

The incident itself, typical racing incident. Verstappen knew Stroll just did his fast lap and would back down so Verstappen himself could start his. Stroll got the call to go for another fast lap (not standard) and probably did not thought that Verstappen would count on him backing down. Shit happens and end of story.

Then people are upset about Verstappen being rude on the radio. Well, that just makes me tired. You can't say shit anymore. Everybody feels like they need to be offended about everything. Bloody hell, it is just a kid racing a car. You don't want to hear me in my car (not racing, just driving to work) when some guy cuts me off. I bet a lot of people that are offended about Verstappen his radio talk are worse themselves when driving a car in day to day life, not even driving for a championship.

The same with all the bollocks about that new FIA guy and Hamilton thinking something about him. Move on, who cares. Lets focus on the damn racing and enjoy the sport like we used to do!

[The Professor]

The whole Verstappen thing, I don't get all the fuss.

The incident itself, typical racing incident. Verstappen knew Stroll just did his fast lap and would back down so Verstappen himself could start his. Stroll got the call to go for another fast lap (not standard) and probably did not thought that Verstappen would count on him backing down. Shit happens and end of story.

Then people are upset about Verstappen being rude on the radio. Well, that just makes me tired. You can't say shit anymore. Everybody feels like they need to be offended about everything. Bloody hell, it is just a kid racing a car. You don't want to hear me in my car (not racing, just driving to work) when some guy cuts me off. I bet a lot of people that are offended about Verstappen his radio talk are worse themselves when driving a car in day to day life, not even driving for a championship.

The same with all the bollocks about that new FIA guy and Hamilton thinking something about him. Move on, who cares. Lets focus on the damn racing and enjoy the sport like we used to do!

Hmm..., not 100% with you here. The incident was certainly 50/50 I agree with that for sure. Max was in the better position (being behind) to prevent the clash but Stroll also knew his actions would cause a crash. Stewards said no further action and that is the right call IMO. They both deserved to crash.

Regarding the radio, that is where I thought Max could improve his game and people's perceptions of him. He is a very angry young man and today's radio exchanges proved it. If you race cars at 200mph you need to trust and respect the guys you are racing with. I'm afraid Max does not have any respect for the other drivers on the circuit as all he can do is call them t**ts (as per Sainz passing him earlier in the session) and ranting when Stroll closed the door. It was a practice session FFS! Drive accordingly.

Max is a 6 season experienced F1 driver but still drives like a rookie at times. Very fast and massively talented, but also very obviously flawed. I doubt he has the temperament to succeed under intense pressure.

And it isn't about being "offended" by what he says on the radio. It is more about his radio rants showing a weakness other top drivers do not show.

[NeilP]

Verstappen still has a long way to go before he is a complete driver. He is still young enough to learn but is he smart enough to do so. That is the question. I am not saying he cannot win the WDC as he is but he could be a MUCH better driver.

I did not see much of the practices just the last hour or so of P2 but I cannot think this circuit is really F1 ready. It is all very well it being new to the calendar but that pit exit is dire and an accident waiting to happen. The elevations are interesting but are they suitably safe enough for F1 and the high speeds and lightness of the cars. Not sure about that to be honest.

That said it is great to see some racing but there are some circuits I would like to see back before this one.

[Monster Hesh]

After the reduced running at a new(ish) track, one with a short term memory might think we are in for an unpredictable show come the business sessions. GermanGP had no Friday running and that was a little lackluster from a racing show perspective. So not holding my breath for anything different this weekend. I'll enjoy it, as I did the GermanGP because its new, impressive track.