Autobayng News Team
Stewards at Formula 1 and other events will have new powers to revise their decisions from 2026.
The FIA has revised its International Sporting Code giving the stewards the power to trigger ‘Right of Review’ proceedings. Competitors previously had this power but from next year the stewards will have the option to begin reviews of their own decisions.
The change follows Williams’ successful request for a ‘Right of Review’ hearing after the Dutch Grand Prix earlier this year. The team persuaded the stewards to overturn the penalty applied to Carlos Sainz Jnr for a collision with Liam Lawson .
Williams achieved one of the few successful such reviews in recent seasons (see below) by pointing out the stewards had not been able to view a relevant piece of evidence – onboard footage from Lawson’s car – at the time of the decision. The stewards rescinded the penalty points they originally issued to Sainz but were unable to withdraw the 10-second time penalty as he served it during the race.
There have been past cases of stewards altering decisions after they have been issued. At the 2020 Russian Grand Prix the stewards withdrew penalty points awarded to Lewis Hamilton and fined his Mercedes team instead.
Another revision to the ISC will also allow the FIA to convene a different group of stewards to investigate incidents if needed between events. Previously any decision regarding an event taken in the days after it finished required the original group of stewards to reconvene.
F1 Right of Review requests since 2019
| Date of decision | Team | Event | Incident | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21/6/2019 | Ferrari | Canadian GP | Sebastian Vettel rejoined the track in an unsafe fashion | Failed |
| 5/7/2020 | Red Bull | Austrian GP | Lewis Hamilton failed to slow for yellow flags | Succeeded |
| 2/5/2021 | Alfa Romeo | Emilia Romagna GP | Kimi Raikkonen failed to re-establish the correct restart order | Failed |
| 29/7/2021 | Red Bull | British GP | Lewis Hamilton given a 10-second penalty for colliding with Max Verstappen (Red Bull sought harsher penalty) | Failed |
| 9/8/2021 | Aston Martin | Hungarian GP | Sebastian Vettel’s car disqualified for being underweight | Failed |
| 19/11/2021 | Mercedes | Brazilian GP | Max Verstappen forced Lewis Hamilton off the track | Failed |
| 28/10/2022 | Haas | United States GP | Haas submitted protest against Fernando Alonso too late | Succeeded |
| 19/3/2023 | Aston Martin | Saudi Arabian GP | Fernando Alonso failed to serve a five-second time penalty correctly | Succeeded |
| 18/4/2023 | Ferrari | Australian GP | Carlos Sainz Jnr collided with Fernando Alonso | Failed |
| 2/7/2023 | McLaren | Canadian GP | Lando Norris penalised for unsportsmanlike driving | Failed |
| 9/11/2023 | Haas | United States GP | Track limits breaches | Failed |
| 5/5/2024 | Aston Martin | Chinese GP | Fernando Alonso collided with Carlos Sainz Jnr | Failed |
| 26/10/2024 | McLaren | United States GP | Lando Norris was penalised for overtaking Max Verstappen off the track | Failed |
| 13/9/2025 | Williams | Dutch GP | Carlos Sainz Jnr was penalised for colliding with Liam Lawson | Succeeded |
NB. ‘Right of Review’ requests are different to ‘protests’, such as those brought by Red Bull at the Miami and Canadian grands prix
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