Thursday March 21st, 2002

By Alan Baldwin

Two weeks ago, Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle watched his men lose 4-0 to Manchester United.

Afterwards he let rip at the linesmen. It was, he said, ridiculous that soccer still had amateurs, part-timers even, capable of calling the shots.

"We need everyone in this profession to be professional, from top to bottom, because at the end of the day, we have the most important decisions still being made by part-timers."

Back to Formula One.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya has no great interest in football, still less in Tottenham Hotspur, the performance of that team or the merits of British officials. But the words expressed by Hoddle, and countless other managers over the years, about the men in black would surely have struck a chord with the Williams driver.

The only difference being that Montoya, never a man to mince his words, has more of a bee in his crash helmet about Formula One stewards. Montoya made a small slice of Formula One history at the weekend as the first driver to suffer a "drive-through" punishment after being blamed for causing an "avoidable" incident in last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Colombian and many others thought he had been harshly treated by the stewards and that his first corner clash with Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher was a racing incident, pure and simple. Both men paid a price, Montoya dropping down to ninth place before finishing second, while Schumacher went from pole to last and then third at the finish.

Conspiracy Theory

Montoya's sanction was contrasted to a pile-up in the opening Australian Grand Prix, when Brazilian Rubens Barrichello apparently changed his line and Williams' Ralf Schumacher plunged into and over the Ferrari.

There were no punishments meted out there, although some people thought there should have been. Jaguar boss Niki Lauda blamed Barrichello and did not understand why the Melbourne stewards had not acted.

"In the past I think the stewards of the meeting took decisions to penalise the drivers," he said. "In this case they found an agreement not to do it. I don't know why."

Montoya did not need any help in working out his own theory for what happened in Malaysia: "I think the penalty came, basically, from what happened in the first race," he said.

"I think the stewards wanted to show that they are really strong and if anybody does anything we are going to give you a penalty. Bullshit like that."

"There are ways of making sure this does not happen again," added the Colombian. "One idea would be to get someone up in race control who has been a driver and understands what it is like to be in the cockpit."

McLaren's David Coulthard went further:

"One suggestion we've made in the drivers' briefing is that the same stewards go to every race, so then at least we have consistency."

In other words, professional stewards rather than the current system of three different ones at every race - although the race director and starter are permanent - and preferably someone who once competed in Formula One.

That idea does not sit well with the FIA, who say amateur stewards are a guarantee of independence.

"Once you have professional stewards, they are no longer independent," countered spokesman Francesco Longanesi. "What you want is people whose bread and butter does not depend on the FIA, who are competent enough to judge just like referees."

With the FIA's decision to give stewards new powers to punish drivers who cause avoidable incidents from the next race in Brazil, this is one debate with legs on.

Published at 18:08:37 GMT