Steiner calls for full-time FIA stewards and AI tools after Silverstone safety car debacle

Guenther Steiner has called on the FIA to introduce full-time stewards and greater use of artificial intelligence to prevent a repeat of the British Grand Prix’s chaotic finish at Silverstone, describing the incident as Formula 1’s biggest debacle in 50 years.

The race ended under safety car conditions after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun out and beached his car in the gravel at Stowe corner on lap 48 of 52. Although a message indicating the safety car would come in was briefly shown on broadcasts, the race ultimately concluded without a restart. The FIA later confirmed the message had been displayed in error, explaining that too few laps remained to complete the unlapping procedure.

Charles Leclerc claimed victory for Ferrari ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and his own team-mate Lewis Hamilton — but the manner of the finish drew widespread criticism from fans and paddock figures alike.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner was direct in his assessment. “We need to start a campaign soon. You know what I’m always saying: full-time stewards that work on a plan,” the former Haas team principal said. “This is not to blame the stewards because the stewards have nothing to do with this; it’s the race director. But if the race director had permanent stewards, the permanent stewards would help him to find ways around not to look like we did again at Silverstone.”

Steiner also suggested that the rulebook itself contributed to the unsatisfying conclusion, arguing that a pragmatic interpretation could have allowed racing to resume. “I would agree if the lapped cars have unlapped themselves at least half a lap, and there’s only one lap to go, they will not catch them. So they will not be in the way. So we can start the race. But obviously, the race director did what is written in the rulebook.”

He was sceptical about the official explanation for the erroneous broadcast message, speculating that a last-minute decision to restart was reversed under pressure from officials citing the regulations. “I think they said, ‘Oh, let’s restart the race.’ And someone said, ‘You cannot do this because the rules say you cannot do this,’ and then they said, ‘Oh, I’m out of here now. Just stop everything. I don’t want to embarrass myself.’”

Despite his frustration, Steiner offered measured praise for FIA technical director Nikolas Tombazis. “I think they’re pretty good, organised. Nikolas Tombazis, in my opinion, for what he has available, he’s doing a good job. If there is something to be changed, he’s on it, he works on it, and gets solutions.”

To handle the near-infinite permutations that can arise in the closing stages of a race, Steiner proposed that AI-driven decision support tools should be integrated into race control, helping officials navigate complex scenarios in real time rather than relying solely on manual judgement under pressure.