The Future of Stewarding.

Those trusty FIA stewards have been meeting to thought shower ideas about how to change the penalty system, in order to reduce the disproportion between the asperity of the penalties given out. 

In Hungary, Maldonado struck again, 'nudging'  Paul Di Resta off the track.  Running in 12th, his penalty was a drive though which saw him rejoin in 13th.  Considering the fact that he wasn't in the points anyway , the penalty really had no effect and was rather pointless.  If the stewards are working at being more consistent, and that means a drive through penalty will be the norm for moves similar to that made by Pastor, how are they going to get round the fact that a drive through for a driver in 12th has a totally different impact if handed out to one lying in 3rd? 

Paul Di Resta was the most recent victim of  Maldonado's clumsy driving style.

Similarly, the length of the pit lane varies between tracks so administering a drive through will not always be fair.  The pit lane in Canada is significantly shorter than the one at Interlagos, therefore a stop go penalty in Montreal is more fitting and keeps more of a level of consistency.  

There will always be huge disparities, it is not as easy as giving the same punishment for the same crime.  Maybe one way to stop fans and teams, including drivers, questionning the penalties given is to provide explanations about exactly why one of that severity has been applied. 

It will be interesting to see what they come up with.  Let's hope that whatever it is, it is consistent, provides clarity about decisions made, but is also clever enough to allow exciting racing.