Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has called for the end of post-session investigations and for “common sense” to be used going forwards, with the volume of them starting to frustrate teams and fans.
Post-session investigations have become a norm recently in Formula 1, with six having taken place alone across the opening two days of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On Friday after qualifying, George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were all investigated for impeding others at the end of the pit-lane.
All three were found guilty and slapped with a grid penalty for Sunday’s race.
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Three more incidents were investigated on Saturday after the sprint shootout, one of which involved sprint pole sitter Lando Norris.
Norris and Yuki Tsunoda were both investigated for exceeding the maximum lap-time, a new rule which was recently introduced by race director Niels Wittich.
Both drivers were deemed to have exceeded the maximum lap-time and were reprimanded as a result.
Ocon was also investigated again on Saturday alongside Fernando Alonso, following the pair’s collision in the closing seconds of SQ1.
Their clash was ultimately judged as a racing incident.
It was also confirmed during the Brazilian GP that Haas have lodged a request for the results of the United States Grand Prix to be double-checked by the FIA, as it appears track limits weren’t correctly marshalled.
With the sport introducing an increasing number of rules and directives, it’s becoming incredibly rare for the results of a competitive session to be known when the chequered flag is flown.
More often than anyone would like, the results aren’t usually confirmed until several hours after a session has ended, following various investigations by the stewards.
READ: Lando Norris criticises FIA’s ‘stupid rule’
Marko is tired of seeing this and believes decisions need to made during the session, with the sport needing to prioritise the “racing” rather than post-session investigations.
“There’s an old saying: ‘Let them race’… I really think we need to get rid of all these investigations and trips to the stewards,” Marko told Sky Germany.
“Let’s just use common sense in these situations. It should be about the racing, not for things like that.”