“It’s a Minefield”: Martin Brundle Empathizes With Stewards Amid Backlash Over Sao Paulo GP

Max Verstappen isn’t a fan of the British press right now, and he certainly wouldn’t be aligned with Martin Brundle’s assessment of how the stewards performed at the 2024 Sao Paolo GP. During a chaotic weekend, officials had to be on their toes at all given times because drivers were spinning and crashing in almost every blink of an eye.

Most of the decisions seemed to go against Verstappen, who seemed to be livid, especially because the stewards were taking so much time to make up their minds. Brundle, however, defended the stewards and felt for them.

“It’s a really fast-moving dangerous business. And race control I think…did an extremely good job of managing that,”  he said to Sky Sports. The former F1 driver also addressed the popular suggestion within the community that the same set of stewards should officiate all races.

However, with F1 traveling to 24 different locations in a year, expecting the same people to live out of a suitcase for that long would be unreasonable. Brundle added that even splitting the role between two groups would also be challenging.

Brundle feels that things are fine as they are. What he suggests, instead, is to cut the stewards some slack.

“You’ve got the International Sporting Codes, the Drivers’ Guidelines, the Sporting Regulations, directives we don’t even get to see…” he continued. “Then the race director’s final instructions on the weekend, which also get updated as the weekend goes on. It’s a minefield.” Meanwhile, for Verstappen, the stewards’ actions nearly spelled disaster.

Why Verstappen was furious with the stewards

During the Sprint at Interlagos, Verstappen, at one point, was close to overtaking Lando Norris, his main Championship rival. Then, Nico Hulkenberg stopped on the track, and the yellow flags came out, which promptly allowed McLaren to switch Norris’ position with Oscar Piastri’s ahead.

But as soon as Piastri came in front of Verstappen and the Dutchman was about to pass him, the red flags came out. Many deemed this directly favoring McLaren, including Verstappen, who was furious. Unfortunately, things would get worse for him in Qualifying.

When Verstappen was in 10th (the minimum position needed to get into Q2), there was another caution. Lance Stroll had crashed, but by the time the red flags had come out, some drivers behind Verstappen had put in new timings.

This pushed the Red Bull driver down to P12, and he openly questioned the stewards’ decision to wait for 30-40 seconds before halting the session. That, coupled with a five-place grid penalty for speeding under VSC conditions meant he started from 17th on the grid.

Thankfully, Verstappen—who also took a jibe at the British press for defending the stewards’ actions—drove one of the best races in F1 history to finish P1. It took him 62 points clear of Norris and on the brink of winning his fourth Championship.