Max says NO! to Juan

From Max Mosley's press conference at Imola:

"Q: In your mind is there any merit in having a retired Formula One driver on the panel of stewards?

MM: It is very difficult. You see there is a body of opinion that says you should have permanent stewards, permanent people dealing with these matters at every race. The problem is, if you do that they become part of the, I hate to use the word, but part of the circus. They get to know everybody, they have got their friends and enemies in the paddock, and they are not independent. We feel it is enormously important to have completely independent people making these decisions who, in the nature of things, will take decisions that sometimes some of us will think are wrong. I can think of lots of things the stewards have done where personally I would have done something different, and think everybody is in that position. This is the same with all sport, you see it in football, you see someone get a red card that you think shouldn't and you see somebody get a yellow card that you think should have got a red one, it just happens. But we feel the independence is perhaps the most important factor. A compromise that we put forward to the Formula One Commission but which was not accepted by the teams was that the penalties should be imposed by Charlie Whiting, who is the race director, with a right of appeal to the stewards, so that the stewards became really the appeal instance of the race, rather than the actual decision takers. If you did that you would certainly get more consistency between one race an the next because there is just one person doing it, but at the same time you have the safeguard of an appeal. There is an argument for that but like all these things there is an argument against, and in the Formula One Commission the argument against succeeded. We tried a permanent steward for one season early in my time and the feeling was there was too much intimacy between that person and the teams. No criticism of him, but just in the nature of things you get to know everybody if you come to the races all the time. We feel the disadvantage of a degree of inconsistency and perhaps occasionally what some of you would see as eccentric decisions, is greater than...well the advantages of independence outweigh the disadvantages I have just described."


This makes sense to me. With all talk about driver faviouring, what's to say that a permanent panel wouldn't start to favour drivers?

[Tristan]

It makes perfect sense. Where's the problem?? One bad call does not warrent "an overhaul of everything".

Phrases such as "blame culture" and "knee jerk" spring to mind.

[calais]

yes, but when a lot of the stewards decisions show bias, particularly to one driver, something needs to be done

[Splatz the Cow]

So do people have suggestions as to who would be unbiased and enter the job woth integrity that's well earned from years of fair, first class motorsport experience? Only one name comes to mind immediately; Mario Andretti.

Then I thought about Mario's other commitments, and still racing occasionally which precipitates the need for an alternative.... and then it hit me. Someone that even Bernie could not mess with for the potential of causing unforgivable offence and blind-fury to the motorsport world

SIR Jack Brabham.

Could anyone argue that this guy is not a symbol of everything that we all love in motorsport, and more specifically in F1? A man who needs no introduction for his record of astounding feats. He is the symbol of the underdog, the champion, the fair challenger, the technician, the World Champion, the father of champions.

Suddenly I realise with a sad numbness how pathetic the million-lives of Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclstone really really are; cowardly, deceitful, money-grabbing - pathetic.

[Splatz the Cow]

Correction:"million$-lives.."

[calais]

spattz, i think mario andretti might show a little bit of bias against mclaren, considering how his son got the boot from them back in 93