The Stewards

Every event is overseen by a panel of stewards — the referees of Formula 1. Crucially, the panel includes an experienced ex-driver, so decisions are informed by someone who has actually raced wheel-to-wheel at that level.

When an incident happens, the stewards gather evidence — telemetry, onboard and trackside video, team radio, and representations from the teams involved — and decide who, if anyone, was predominantly to blame. Their goal is not to punish every touch, but to penalise the driver mainly responsible for an avoidable incident.

To keep calls consistent from race to race, the stewards work to a set of driving-standards guidelines — agreed principles on things like when a car is far enough alongside to be “entitled” to a corner, and how much room must be left. The guidelines are not a rigid rulebook; they are a shared yardstick that helps different panels reach similar verdicts on similar moves.