Hamilton calls for 'non-biased' F1 stewards

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton called on Formula One to bring in "non-biased" race stewards, saying friendships between some of them and certain drivers had influenced their decision-making.

The Briton, who said he had lost faith in the sport's governance after the controversial safety car call in last year's Abu Dhabi finale denied him an unprecedented eighth title did not name any stewards or driver.

He also did not specify incidents where a biased decision had gone against him.

"Race drivers, some are very, very good friends with certain individuals, some travel with certain individuals and tend to take a more keen liking to some of them," the 37-year-old told a news conference on the opening day of pre-season running in Barcelona on Wednesday.

"So I think [F1 should appoint] people ... that have no bias and [are] super central when it comes to making decisions," he said, adding he would like to see greater women representation among the stewards.

Formula One races are policed by a rotating panel of stewards whose responsibility it is to rule on incidents during the race, which includes handing out penalties.

The Abu Dhabi safety car restart was the result of a call made by race director Michael Masi, who has been replaced as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of F1's refereeing process unveiled by newly-elected FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem last week.

The Emirati said Masi's role would be split between two alternating race directors while a VAR-style virtual race control room would be set up to support them.

But there have been numerous complaints about inconsistency in how stewards have applied the rules, especially those governing wheel-to-wheel racing, which have grown louder with Hamilton's on-track battles against Red Bull rival Max Verstappen drawing much scrutiny.

Hamilton's comments were in response to a question about whether the ambiguity surrounding the racing rules could be addressed by the new structure.

Hamilton's Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff called for professionalism in the stewards room.

"I don't think there is a conscious bias, to be honest," said the Austrian.

"There shouldn't be a lot of room to interpret the rules."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed, "You've got very complicated regulations that leave room for interpretation.

"So what you need is clear rules which are easier to police."

Reuters