Sebastian Vettel
Vettel sits 13th in the drivers' standings with 15 points

The fine for walking out of the drivers' press conference at the Austrian Grand Prix was suspended.

The four-time champion was one of many drivers who asked for explanations for their decisions at the meeting.

The race stewards said that he left without permission.

According to Insiders, a reference was made to the fact that he had been having such discussions for 15 years before he walked out.

After an investigation into the incident, race stewards said in their verdict that they had a constructive conversation with the race director about the topics in the meeting, as well as an apology from the driver.

Drivers are not allowed to leave the briefing when they want, this is a violation of the requirement to attend.

Drivers at this level are role models for every driver around the world, and in the opinion of the stewards, Vettel failed to live up to that standard.

The driver's fine was suspended for the rest of the season due to a similar violation.

Sources have said that Alpine's Fernando Alonso was outspoken in the meeting in his criticism of decisions being made by officials in judging racing incidents.

A source said the meeting was not comfortable for Wittich.

In F1, race stewards make decisions on whether drivers should be punished for on-track incidents, although the race director can choose to refer incidents to them.

The drivers are frustrated at the way the officials are handling the situation this year.

They think stewards don't make consistent judgements. Concerns have been raised about decisions being made in other matters, including safety and a row earlier this season about underwear and jewellery.

What was the row about?

Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc
This battle between Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc at Silverstone was under discussion during Friday's driver briefing

The debate took place as drivers were talking about the officials at the British Grand Prix.

There was a late-race battle in which Red Bull's Perez and Leclerc went off the track.

Lewis Hamilton passed both Perez and Leclerc after Perez cut the chicane at Vale. Second place was secured by the Mexican after he re- passed Hamilton three times.

After looking at the incidents, the stewards did not take action.

George Russell is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and he said that there have been a lot of borderline decisions this season.

We don't want to give out penalties left, right and centre but there needs to be consistency somewhere.

What would the drivers like changed?

There are two main concerns.

There are two race directors this year, that's one thing. This is a new development that was introduced in the wake of the removal of the previous race director Michael Masi following his controversial handling of last year's title-deciding race in Abu Dhabi.

The layout of circuits was one of the other things. When drivers can run off track without risk of damaging their race than when there is a penalty for going off, such as a gravel run-off or a wall, is more likely to be the case.

Russell agrees that we need to stick with one race director and that we need to have more consistency with the stewards.

There is no accountability because the stewards from the previous event are not present at the following event.

It's hard to get an answer because the blame is on someone who isn't there. It is difficult. Everyone has a different interpretation.

The root cause of the issues needs to be looked at. We're never going to solve this issue until we fix the circuit.

Turn Four in Austria, you won't have that problem. You will always have the issue if you compare that with Turn One or the other track.

Sergio Perez
Red Bull's Perez has again been at the centre of some contentious decisions by the stewards in Austria

The new cars have made it more difficult for officials to do their jobs because of their design.

There has been a change of dynamic with the new cars and the porpoising. It's not an easy job, but we just want consistency.

When you race, there is never a black and white when it comes to what you can and can't do.

There are so many fine margins that it can't be black and white. It is hard for everyone but it is getting out of hand.

The race director's job was shared between two people, one of which was Portuguese Eduardo Freitas.

The controversy over the policing of racing incidents in Abu Dhabi was the final straw.

A virtual race control office is one of the new things.

On Friday in Austria, officials missed Perez twice and allowed him to progress into the final session, only to have his lap times deleted after an investigation.

Russell said that they feel listened to but that they can't just change the rules week in, week out.

They need to hold onto their guns. Consistency is needed for it to be enforced. It needs to be understood by everyone. There needs to be more consistency in the penalties. Consistency from the people policing the regulations is the only thing that will allow that to happen.

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