The FIA has spoken positive about the F1 drivers’ meet with the stewards and other officials in Qatar, while Alpine signs Paul Aron in reserve role.
After the weekend in Mexico, it was decided for a larger meet in Qatar to discuss the drivers’ guidelines going forward. The meeting took place on Thursday and was largely positive as noted by Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Max Verstappen, who had their media briefing after the meet.
The big talking point has been overtaking either inside and or outside, where the nature of the circuit and corner has been highlighted as a point of contention. The nature of the run-off has allowed drivers’ to take liberty, which the drivers themselves agree upon.
Additionally, the decisions taken by stewards too have been talked about at large. The meet was led by the chairman of the FIA Stewards in Formula 1, Garry Connelly, and he had Race Director Rui Marques along with the Race Control representatives to discuss various matters.
The purpose of the meet was to define safe wheel-to-wheel racing. “The meeting was the most productive one we’ve [ever] attended,” said Connelly. “The drivers were fantastic with their input. Very constructive. There was not one negative comment. There was no finger-pointing. It was very inspiring to see the world’s best drivers, communicating clearly and speaking constructively on how we can improve the Driving Standard Guidelines to the benefit of the drivers and to make all of our jobs easier.
“As Stewards, we are not here to inflict pain on drivers. We’re here to provide a level playing field. It’s not us against the drivers, it’s the drivers against the drivers and we’re here to make sure everyone gets a fair go. We have an open-door policy. The door to the Stewards’ room is always open to any driver who wants to come up and talk to us about a decision that’s been taken either in relation to them or in relation to any other driver.
“We think Thursday’s meeting emphasised that open-door policy. The Driving Standard Guidelines are a living document, so every year, as the F1 Stewards we try to meet with the drivers, sporting directors and FIA representatives, to see if we need to tweak the guidelines to use the experience of the last 12 months and see what improvements we can make to ensure consistency.
“The goal of the guidelines is consistency. As Stewards, if drivers and teams and the FIA agree that they want rules or guidelines to allow more aggressive driving, we’ll apply those rules or guidelines. Likewise, if they want stricter driving standards, we’ll apply those,” summed up Connelly.
FIA Single-Seater Sporting Director Tim Malyon also spoke at length and highlighted various incidents especially from the US GP. “We will always try and facilitate such meetings, because gaining the feedback, the insight of the drivers, is extremely important in allowing us to evolve the guidelines in the right direction,” he said.
“We’ve had some very constructive driver meetings at the last few races, and this was a specific meeting set up to provide the space for that dialogue to continue, so that we can have the open exchange that we need with the drivers in order to be able to evolve the guidelines for next year. We typically hold a meeting like that at least once a year, sometimes twice a year, depending on the topics that arise.
“This year we’ve timed this meeting following the constructive discussions in Mexico and Austin. As the FIA, we work continuously with circuits to evolve in many ways. Obviously, we are working on the safety aspect of circuits. But what that meeting highlighted is that there are a number of considerations on the sporting side, which we can prioritise for circuits going forward.
“As we have done this year, we introduced the gravel traps, starting in Austria, and obviously, with this weekend being perhaps the most obvious with gravel traps added in a in a number of places. We continue to work with circuits on all topics, but it was very useful in yesterday’s meeting to get the insight of the drivers and see how they prioritize the gravel track concept, not only for track limits, but also for managing some of the situations that have arisen with overtaking during the course of the last four or five races.
“In all, there was a commitment to work together to find solutions that work for everyone,” summed up Malyon, as Connelly noted about the FIA High Performance Programme, which he thinks is helping in development of race officials. Currently, there are 23 participants representing 16 different FIA Member Clubs from six regions at HPP.
“The HPP is an initiative of our President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem,” said Connelly. “One of those is here with us today, Caroline Tuta Mionki, a lady from Kenya. Our HPP programme is designed to fast-track talented young people through the system, train them and get them into FIA championships as Stewards as soon as they’re fully qualified.”
Alpine –
Considering that Jack Doohan is stepping up to the F1 seat in 2025, Alpine has roped in F2 racer Paul Aron to be their reserve driver for 2025 season – thereby jumping on the likes of Victor Martins and Kush Maini, who are part of the academy and competing at the same level.
Aron races for Hitech GP and was in contention for the title in the early part of the season before fading away, but still sits fourth in the drivers’ standings. “It’s incredibly special to be joining BWT Alpine Formula One Team,” he said. “It is clear that this is a great place to be for any young driver and I’m really pleased that Flavio and Oliver [Oakes] have given me this opportunity.
“Before 2025 and the hard work that will come with being the team’s Reserve Driver, I have a Championship to focus on for the remainder of this year and I will be giving it my all to compete for the title. I’m looking forward to really beginning the work and continuing my career pathway in motorsport.”
Flavio Briatore added: “We are very pleased to have Paul join BWT Alpine Formula One Team as our 2025 Reserve Driver. There is a generational shift in Formula 1 at the moment, as we see with many young drivers coming into the sport and making an impact. We believe Paul is one of the best talents and we look forward to developing him into an F1 driver.”
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