Alexander Wurz joins Chinese GP stewards

Posted on

| Written by

Those of you keeping tabs on which drivers have appeared as advisers to the stewards this year can add Alexander Wurz to the list.

Of the four drivers to have taken the role so far this year Wurz has the most recent F1 racing experience having competed as recently as 2007, when he was Nico Rosberg’s team mate at Williams.

At Sepang two weeks ago we saw the first significant ruling on driver conduct this year when Lewis Hamilton was shown the black-and-white flag for weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov.

Interestingly the driver who was on the panel for that race, Johnny Herbert, later said it was race director Charlie Whiting who made the call to give Hamilton a warning rather than a penalty.

Wurz joins Alain Prost (Bahrain), Tom Kristensen (Australia) and Herbert (Malaysia) as the fourth ‘celebrity guest’ on the stewards’ panel this year.

The other three stewards officiating this weekend are Paul Gutjahr, president of the Swiss motor sport body, Enzo Spano, a Venezuelan member of the World Motor Sports Council, and Heping Wan, vice-president of the Chinese motor sport federation.

Read more: Drivers as stewards make presence felt as Hamilton gets black-and-white flag

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

10 comments on “Alexander Wurz joins Chinese GP stewards”

  1. Can anybody tell me who choose this drivers to be at the steward?

    Why can’t we have the same driver for all the races?

    1. It would probably be harder to find an ex-driver with enough time (and inclination) to follow the F1 circus around all year and act as a steward. Remember that the driver doesn’t have a vote on the stewards’ panel, he is simply there to advise based on a driver’s perspective, so for the sake of consistency it’s not as important to have the same driver at each race.

      1. No vote? doesn’t it start to look as if he’s there just so we all say, “look how great the stewards are” I dislike….

  2. Given Johnny Herbert’s comments after Malaysia, are we not just seeing ‘celebrity’ stewards on the panel, more as guests of Jean Todt (to please the masses) than anybody expecting them to make judgements?
    How many of the previous ex-drivers would have been at the earlier races as guests of teams or sponsors anyway?
    This seemed like a good idea when it was announced, but it would be better to have a group of drivers officially join the FIA, so we know they are being taken seriously. If every decision is going to go to Old Charlie, what’s the point of any other Stewards being there at all?

  3. Strange, but its OK. Stewards havent such big role in F1 like in football for example

  4. Mouse_Nightshirt
    15th April 2010, 12:37

    Onestopstrategy.com have announced the stewards for some of the upcoming rounds

    http://www.onestopstrategy.com/dailyf1news/nieuw/article/10873-Warwick%2C+Mansell%2C+Fittipaldi%2C+Hill+to+be+next+F1+stewards.html

    Spain: Derek Warwick
    Monaco: Hill
    Canada: Fittipaldi (possibly)
    Britain: Mansell (possibly)

    1. I bet Bernie was thrilled when Hill was named :)

  5. The stewards didn’t listen to Charlie whiting at Spa 2008, so I guess it was fitting he got to decide on the latest Hamilton adventure!

    I liked Wurz as a driver. I remember when he led the British Grand Prix in 1997 for a lap. Sadly, he didn’t lead too many afterwards. If Bennetton had stayed competitive, he could have been a good #2 to a WDC.

    1. What was the story about Spa 2008, stewards and Whiting?

  6. fred schechter
    15th April 2010, 20:44

    one brown leather shoe, one black one?

Comments are closed.