FIA delegate Alan Donnelly has rejected calls for a former driver to occupy a permanent role in the F1 stewards room.

Donnelly, the non-voting advisor to the three nominated stewards at each grand prix, said he does not agree with claims the current system needs to be overhauled.

In an interview with Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, he doubted that simply adding a driver to the system would improve it.

"Their experience is tied to the past, from when they used to drive. And since then, let's say ten years ago, racing has changed," he said.

Donnelly defends the credentials of the current stewards, which are changed every race weekend.

"These are people who, every weekend, work in some important event. They are given a superlicense just like the drivers. We have stewards who have done this job for 20 or 25 years, when some of these drivers weren't even born," he said.

He also does not agree that too many penalties are being dished out, pointing out that only 34 penalties this year were the result of incidents.

"Keep in mind that we analyse dozens more cases and decide not to intervene," said Donnelly.

F1 veteran David Coulthard, however, believes it is difficult for stewards without driving backgrounds to make good decisions.

"I would be uncomfortable making a call on somebody's move in a MotoGP or something like that because although I have ridden a motorcycle, I don't know what it is to race one of them," he said.

Source: GMM