JULY 20, 1998

World Council to question Silverstone stewards

THE three FIA Stewards of the British Grand Prix - Nazir Hoosein, Roger Peart and Howard Lapsley - have been "invited" to appear before an Extraordinary World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on July 29.

THE three FIA Stewards of the British Grand Prix - Nazir Hoosein, Roger Peart and Howard Lapsley - have been "invited" to appear before an Extraordinary World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on July 29. The move comes as a result of a report from the FIA Observer about the confusion surrounding Michael Schumacher's 10-second penalty in the closing laps of the British GP. There is no doubt that the stewards did not apply the rules correctly and the result was the chaotic finish with Schumacher being declared the winner despite having been in his pit when the race ended.

All three stewards have plenty of F1 experience - Hoosein being one of the four permanent stewards appointed in February 1996 who each appear at four races a year. Peart is a regular steward in Canada and at Silverstone and Lapsley has long been the British international steward at the Grand Prix.

FIA Stewards all hold licences in order to do their job and it is quite possible that the three men will have those licences suspended as a result of what happened at Silverstone. There is a precedent for this with Silverstone's Clerk of the Course Pierre Aumonier who was suspended from his role for one year as a result of an error.

Normally, however, the FIA is very protective of its stewards - who are usually important members of the FIA hierarchy - so it is possible that the incident will be swept under the carpet to avoid embarrassment.