Adrian Sutil frustrated with 'joke' penalties in Formula 1

Adrian Sutil believes Formula 1's stewards must be more consistent with penalties and avoid 'joke' decisions like Pastor Maldonado's drive-through at Spa

Sutil earned a three-place grid penalty for blocking Lewis Hamilton in Italian Grand Prix qualifying, although the Briton later said the incident "doesn't matter anyway."

While Sutil accepted the penalty, he said he did so in the hope that it would set the bar and lead to more consistent decisions in the future.

"I think they just wanted to make an example now to say 'we are consistent in penalties'," he told AUTOSPORT.

"But I hope that for the next race, and all the other races there will be clear penalties for similar things.

"In Spa I had a situation where I had three cars in front of me that really impeded me and no penalty, not even an investigation. So, now it's me, I accept it no problem, if we are on the right way and the stewards are doing it every race.

"That's what the drivers all want. We don't understand sometimes - in one situation no penalty, in the same situation again you get a big penalty."

Sutil also derided the nature of some penalties, citing the example of Maldonado at Spa, when the Williams man was handed a drive-through for clashing with Paul di Resta at the Bus Stop chicane.

Di Resta was forced to retire while Maldonado earned a drive-through, an admonishment Sutil believes was pointless given his race hopes had already been extinguished.

"I think the penalty for Maldonado was a joke," he said.

"He was out of the race anyway after this incident and he gets, what, a drive-through? He deserved a grid position penalty.

"We all want to have a better sport with clear decisions, and if someone does something wrong, then yes OK they deserve a penalty.

"The problem is that sometimes there are drivers that are kind of stupid. They have no intelligence, and for them we need all the rules."

shares
comments

Analysis: Lotus under the spotlight at F1's night race

McLaren says F1 driver continuity not a priority for Honda era

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Alex Kalinauckas

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023 Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
British GP
GP Racing

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
GP Racing

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

How McLaren has revamped its F1 team to become a contender again

How McLaren has revamped its F1 team to become a contender again

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
GP Racing

How McLaren has revamped its F1 team to become a contender again How McLaren has revamped its F1 team to become a contender again

Why precedent doesn’t favour Massa’s F1 legal challenge

Why precedent doesn’t favour Massa’s F1 legal challenge

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

Why precedent doesn’t favour Massa’s F1 legal challenge Why precedent doesn’t favour Massa’s F1 legal challenge

Why Sainz’s Singapore F1 success was not just about DRS genius

Why Sainz’s Singapore F1 success was not just about DRS genius

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Jonathan Noble

Why Sainz’s Singapore F1 success was not just about DRS genius Why Sainz’s Singapore F1 success was not just about DRS genius

 The signs that suggest an immediate Red Bull resurgence in F1's Japanese GP

The signs that suggest an immediate Red Bull resurgence in F1's Japanese GP

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Alex Kalinauckas

The signs that suggest an immediate Red Bull resurgence in F1's Japanese GP The signs that suggest an immediate Red Bull resurgence in F1's Japanese GP

Subscribe