McLaren CEO Zak Brown Advocates for Full-Time F1 Stewards to Simplify Regulations

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, has stated that Formula 1 should employ stewards on a full-time basis to streamline the sport’s regulations. Brown believes the current rules are “overly regulated” and “overly complicated.” He proposed compensating stewards, who currently serve as unpaid volunteers, and providing them with enhanced technology to facilitate accurate decisions on significant incidents. This season, McLaren’s Lando Norris has been involved in consecutive contentious on-track encounters with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, resulting in penalties for both drivers in separate incidents at the United States and Mexico City Grands Prix. “I think we need full-time stewards,” Brown told BBC Sport. “I don’t think the way we’re set up as a sport, we are set up for success.” Verstappen echoed similar sentiments to BBC Sport on Thursday, remarking: “Do I think consistency in the penalties could be better? Yes, for sure, but that only comes with stewards that are paid – professional stewards. “The stewards we have right now, they are doing their very best to what they have but in a sport like this, like in other sports, when you have a paid board of stewards, it works way better.” During the Austin race, Norris received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while attempting to overtake Verstappen. The Briton declined to return the position after Verstappen’s complaint, asserting he was ahead at the apex, though the stewards disagreed with Norris. Many drivers expressed their view that Verstappen’s driving in Austin was unfair and informed the FIA that racing guidelines required modification to address the tactics employed by the Dutchman. A week later in Mexico, the two drivers again collided, leading to Verstappen receiving a combined 20-second penalty for two incidents with Norris on the same lap. Norris characterized Verstappen’s driving as “dangerous” and reiterated that he was ahead of the three-time world champion into the corner during their initial skirmish. “I think we need to take a step back and not over-regulate what happens on the track. We never used to do that in Formula 1,” said Brown. “I think we’re racing too much to a rulebook now versus good old fashioned racing – just give the stewards a little bit more discretion. They’ve raced, they know that a driver has been pushed off or not, or made a lunge, or not. And not have this black and white rulebook.” Despite these concerns, Brown affirmed his confidence in Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the governing body, following the departures of several senior FIA staff members over the past year. Race director Niels Wittich, who replaced Michael Masi in 2022, vacated his position with immediate effect on 12 November, with less than a month remaining in the season. Wittich was initially reported to have “stepped down,” but he informed BBC Sport last week: “I can confirm that I got fired and it was not my decision to leave F1.” Rui Marques has taken over from the German, starting with this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. “He doesn’t mess about. He makes decisions,” Brown said of Ben Sulayem. “I think we were surprised by that decision, more the timing of it.” McLaren currently leads the constructors’ standings by 36 points with three races left, and Brown stated that it “would be unbelievable” if the team could secure their first team title since 1998. “It’s hard to believe it was that long ago,” he added. “That’s why we’re here. We’re here to win world championships.”