Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was the first to step up and express his thoughts on the idea, agreeing that “it's a good idea to have an ex-driver to help them because sometimes the decisions they make, it's difficult to know from the outside if you have never driven a Formula One car. We ask for a little bit more consistency with the penalties even if they are very harsh or not.”
Formula One veteran Jarno Trulli also insisted that having an ex-driver assisting the race stewards at all times can only improve the decision-making process. The Toyota driver actually stressed out the fact that most of the people who give verdicts on racing incidents and hand out penalties during or after a race haven't got a clue about racing.
“Personally there are some times when I believe the penalties are unfair. I always say that we should try to get a driver, a professional driver, inside the stewards because they have no idea about racing. This is the truth. They can imagine somehow, but they have no idea in the end. A driver can give them a much better picture of the situation,” said Trulli according to autosport.com.
Great Britain's Jenson Button also agrees with his fellow drivers on the matter but opinions that “having an experienced driver on board would help, but not one from 15 to 20 years ago because so much has changed. We need someone who has been involved in the sport and knows about this problem of going off the circuit and coming back on”.
Stewards' decisions have so far influenced the overall classification, with Lewis Hamilton leading the pack with penalties in both Belgian and Japanese Grand Prix – stripping him of valuable points in the championship race.
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