Ted Kravitz hits back at Toto Wolff and Andrea Stella in FIA’s ‘all so boring’ response

Between Andrea Stella calling out “inappropriate stewards” and Toto Wolff sticking his “belt in”, Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz says criticism of the stewards is “all so boring” because the rules are the rules.

And they are rules that the teams and drivers have agreed to.

Ted Kravitz: Newest F1 stewards’ ‘kerfuffle’ is ‘boring’

Lando Norris and George Russell both received five-second penalties during the United States Grand Prix. Norris’s was for leaving the track and gaining a lead in the battle with Max Verstappen, while Russell was penalized for forcing Valtteri Bottas off the track.

The team boss of both drivers was not impressed.

McLaren team boss Stella called Norris’s penalty for passing Verstappen off the track “inappropriate as both cars went off track, giving both cars an advantage”.

He said the stewards had ‘interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport’.

Meanwhile, Wolff called Russell’s punishment a “piece of biased decision-making” and later told media including PlanetF1.com: “We have to try to understand whether there are certain patterns in stewarding decisions, and whether that correlates with some of the situations .

“Everyone races hard, but for me the decision against George was inexplicable.”

But according to Kravitz, the drivers involved have only themselves to blame, because they not only know the rules, but also ‘agreed’ to them.

“Lando overtook by going off track,” he said after the race Sky F1 Notebook shows: ‘And Lando got a five-second penalty, because that’s the rules.

“You always get a five-second penalty for that, because that is the rule. These are the rules that have been agreed upon. Maybe you don’t like the rules.

“As I said on air at the time, it’s such a shame that it had to end like this and that’s actually McLaren’s point, although they say it’s a shame because they came out on the wrong side. But as a neutral observer it is a great piece of motorsport.

“To quote Andrea Stella: should it end with a five-second penalty from the stewards? Can’t they just fight it out again? And that was Lando’s point, and I think Lando will be the most frustrated: he should have just let Max go and then try, let him pass again and then try again so it can be clean.

“Then we don’t have to deal with that hassle with the stewards again. It’s all so boring, that stuff with the stewards.

“Of course we have Andrea Stella saying it is inappropriate stewardship and we have Toto Wolff putting his belt in because he was also not happy with George’s punishment.

“These rules have been agreed by the teams and the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. They made these rules.”

More about Lando Norris’ GP penalty in the United States

👉How Verstappen and Norris’ telemetry data raise new questions about FIA stewarding

👉Explained: why Max Verstappen was not punished in the dramatic Lando Norris battle

And while he feels like penalties are handed out too easily these days, he again says it’s because the teams decided on these rules.

“And okay, you can argue all day about whether all you have to do these days is cough to get a five-second penalty,” he added.

“All stewards act and enforce the rules that the teams have all agreed to and the drivers have signed up for.”

Amid all this, Wolff talks about “correlations” and “certain patterns in stewarding decisions” and wants FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to get involved.

Kravitz admits he was a bit perplexed, as the stewards were just doing their job.

“We’re in the middle of it, trying to figure it all out,” he said. “I’m not asking for sympathy, I just hope you understand that when I arrive on a day like today, we have to decipher what we were told.

“That Toto interview, when he was talking about all this stuff, in my head I was thinking, ‘What is he saying here?’

‘If I don’t understand it, what are the chances that someone else will?

“But ultimately it’s not the stewards’ fault, because they just act according to the rules that are written for them. And if a driver literally goes off the track and gains position, that’s a violation of the rule.

“If you break the rule, you will be fined. What is the fine? It’s five seconds.”

Read the following: ‘Smart’ Verstappen tactic discovered in Norris battle amid ‘stupid’ McLaren decision