Paul Stoddart critical: "Ferrari was robbed of second place in 2023 F1 championship"

Paul Stoddart’s accusation
With only a three-point deficit to Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari finished the 2023 season in third place, with a total of 406 points. Behind the unattainable Red Bull, these two teams played the role of ‘runner-up’ until the last moment, not without some controversy over incidents that could have gained a position for the ‘Prancing Horse.’ While there were human errors or reliability issues, there were also some ‘extras,’ such as certain decisions by the stewards against Ferrari, which, according to former Minardi owner Paul Stoddart, had a significant impact: “The last race of the season in Abu Dhabi was not very exciting, except for the battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship,” he commented in his column for racingnews365.com. “Unfortunately, Ferrari was robbed of second place in the championship once again due to further interference with decisions by the race stewards that really make no sense.

The incident between Sergio Perez and Lando Norris was a racing incident that certainly did not deserve a five-second penalty, which completely took Ferrari out of second place with Mercedes.”

The Carlos Sainz case
The episode between Lando Norris and Sergio Perez, according to the Australian entrepreneur, hindered Ferrari at Yas Marina, although there were other examples where the drivers themselves were directly affected. Specifically, Paul Stoddart cited a particular example, strongly criticizing the policies prevailing in Formula 1: “Throughout the year, Ferrari found itself in a worse position than Mercedes, and the fact that the drivers can’t wait to get rid of the cars says a lot,” he continued. “Carlos Sainz was also completely robbed in Las Vegas with that drain cover, which was a real force majeure. All the other teams would have agreed, something that could have been done, but we heard that Mercedes didn’t want to, and unanimity is required. So, for all these reasons and many others throughout the year, I believe Ferrari deserved second place in the championship, once again denied by politics.” – he pointed out.

Penalties
Limiting the discussion to the topic of controversial decisions made by the Race Direction, Paul Stoddart hopes to see a different approach from the stewards, who should impose sanctions different from those penalizing drivers on the track: “Formula 1 should be a pure race, where the best drivers in the world and the best cars in the world can showcase their skills,” he added. “There is no need for a group of police officers to turn around and say, ‘Well, this guy went off track here, and this guy did this, and this guy did that.’ The race can be pure. Stewards are there to do a job; most of them are former drivers and perfectly capable of recognizing an infringement. The white lines are not even visible in the cockpit, so to change the results of races and championships based on this should impose a financial penalty. Instead of a five-second penalty, a $50,000 fine should be imposed on the team—not altering the course of the race unless the infringement is so clear that anyone can say that the result would have been changed because there was a clear advantage. I realize how difficult it is, I realize it is a controversial issue. We have a fantastic Formula 1 World Championship that grows year by year, but we are returning to the time when politics and stupidity decide races instead of talent and machinery.” – he concluded.