Rob Smedley suggests extra F1 stewards to speed up race decisions

Former Formula 1 race engineer Rob Smedley has suggested adding a second group of stewards to deal with straightforward incidents during races. That could reduce delays when a possible penalty leaves the final result unsettled. RacingNews365 reported his comments on 28 September 2026, citing the High Performance Racing podcast.

Smedley said stewards are extremely busy during races and questioned why some incidents that appear clear to him are left for investigation afterwards. He argued that a race cannot be stopped while officials deliberate, but an additional group could handle some decisions more quickly.

Smedley would still leave complex cases for post-race investigation and keep results provisional, so officials could correct a rule breach missed during the race.