Hill questions driver stewards role

A former F1 driver has been joining the stewards' panel at each race this year, with the likes of Alain Prost, Alex Wurz or Hill himself having been part of the new FIA scheme.

Hill, who joined the stewards for the Monaco Grand Prix, had to judge the incident involving his former rival Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso on the final lap of the race.

Schumacher was eventually penalised and dropped from sixth to 12th position.

Hill, however, believes the former drivers should not be the ones interpreting the rules like on Sunday, and he thinks they should just provide support to the stewards.

"It was a fascinating experience but I wonder whether it is right that drivers are put in the position of interpreting the regulations," Hill was quoted as saying by The Times.

"I imagined I would be there as a consultant providing driver insight to the stewards, who would then make the decisions. My expertise is as a driver rather than a lawmaker or interpreter of regulations."

The former world champion also revealed that he had received hate mail over the decision to punish Schumacher, but he feels he was totally impartial about it.

"Partly, of course, my discomfort was because I was called to make a ruling on an incident involving Michael. I acted entirely properly but I have already received some stinging e-mails accusing me of prejudice."