Binotto: F1 teams need to help new FIA race directors improve

After a controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi the FIA was forced to revamp the way it officiates F1 races, with race director Michael Masi cast aside in favour of a shared role between Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who are better supported, with help from a Remote Operations Centre - F1's equivalent to VAR.

But across the first third of the 2022 season race control has still come under fire from teams and drivers over a lack of consistency.

The wording and application of Formula 1’s pit entry and exit lines rules is the latest topic of controversy after Max Verstappen escaped a penalty in Monaco, while teams are also seeking more consistency on how drivers impeding each other has been policed.

It led to Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas suggesting "one race director would be better than two", and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen saying it is now "more difficult to really understand what the rules are."

AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda went one step further by stating: “I'm not trusting the FIA. Every time it's super inconsistent. I got already four reprimands, and the last time in Monaco, I still don't know why."

Ferrari team principal Binotto admits the lack of consistency is also bothering the teams but says they should play their part in helping race control with constructive feedback.

When asked to weigh in on the topic in Baku, Binotto said: "If I look at the start of the season, certainly as Ferrari we cannot be happy with that. I think often we have been disadvantaged by decisions, but that's the way it is.

"We understand the difficulty. I think in order to make them improve; we need to help them as well. I think it has to be a collaboration between the teams and the race directors, to make sure they understand, they improve as fast as possible.

"No doubt that so far in the season, sometimes there was no consistency in decisions, I think we cannot deny that, as we cannot deny it's not an easy job. It will take some time. We just need to hasten it as much as possible."

Mattia Binotto, Team Principal, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

A clampdown on unnecessary radio communication between team bosses and race control, and its removal from the broadcast, has gone some way in avoiding the public outbursts that sometimes marred the 2021 season.

But Mercedes chief Toto Wolff acknowledges race directors are still "in the firing line" and thinks teams should therefore have some empathy when mistakes are made.

"Like Mattia said, it's a difficult job because you're also in the spotlight and certainly, Monaco, when you're thrown into this weather condition, climate, and then suddenly you need to make decisions, that is very, very difficult," Wolff explained.

"And I think the more races will pass, the more experience they will get, the more they will cope also with the pressure that Formula 1 brings with it. But they are part of Formula 1, as are the teams.

"Teams make mistakes, because a wheel is not on the car, or you get the strategy wrong. In the same way the race director is in the firing line. So, I think it's the same for everyone."

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner thinks the fallout of Abu Dhabi will continue to heighten attention on race control's decision making, but says Wittich and Freitas, who have so far directed six and two races respectively, are doing a "decent job".

"After last year, the Abu Dhabi race, the race director is a lot more in the spotlight than in the years before," Steiner said. "So, everybody looks at them and every little mistake, they are more criticised than before and that cannot be easy.

"We just have to give them a little bit of time and I think they will get there. Not having [been] a race director in Formula 1 before, they are doing a decent job."