After years of complaints because the stewards imposed penalties that way too harsh when it came to racing incidents over the years, now that former F1 drivers have joined the panel of stewards at each round of the championship, people are complaining that their decisions are now too lenient.

In the last two events, Lewis Hamilton received reprimands for his actions, one on track and one in pitlane, and this has now caused an uproar in some circles, who wanted to see the young Brit punished harder.

In the first incident, Hamilton made a pass on the Renault of Vitaly Petrov, who soon came back at him and reclaimed the position, the next time the McLaren driver got past, he was accused of blocking, the drivers defence being that he was trying to break the two to the car behind. As a result of his actions, he was given a warning over the radio.

Next up in China, Hamilton was embroiled in a battle with Sebastian Vettel as they entered and exited pitlane together, and once again the McLaren driver was only reprimanded, as was Vettel. Speaking at a  recent sponsor event, Autosport asked Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, if he thought this was a sign they were favouring Hamilton....

“No, I don't think so. The decisions are perhaps not very consistent, because there will be other times when the same happens and someone gets a penalty for it. So it varies a bit, but I don't think that's very important,” Alonso said. “He got two warnings and maybe he will be penalised in the next race if he does something wrong. It's like referees in football: their intention is not bad, but sometimes they make a decision and other times a different one.”