Almost two weeks on from the chequered fla🦂g falling in Canada and Sebastian Vettel lo🎉sing victory due to a controversial stewards’ ruling, the dust is showing few signs of settling in the debate.

The decision to hand Vettel a five-second time penalty for unsafely rejoining the track during his fight with Lewis Hamilton led to widesꦰpread criticism from many former drivers, champions and pundits in the F1 world. At a time when the sport is trying to capture the imagination of fans, to hit the headlines in such an officious manner was seen as being harmful, proving its over-regulated modern nature.

Up and down the paddock at Paul Ricard on Thursday, the majority of the current drivers were asked for their v꧂iews on the incident, with most offering a similar thought: that the penalty was harsh but, going by the rulebook,🧜 correct.

“There was a penalty? I did not notice that in the press!” Nico Hulkenberg deadpanned when asked for his thoughts on it by mahbx.com in Thursday෴’s FIA press conference.

“I think my opinion and view of that is just that it’s raci🌠ng. It is tough to control a car on the grass, and how you then make the entry to the race track because we are simply not in full control and we don’t have normal grip. For me, it seemed like a racing incident.”

“I think like an🍨y other Formula 1 fan I was disappointed when I saw a penalty,” said McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. “As a driver I think I would have done exactly the same as Seb. I would just rejoin the track and try and keep first position independently of where the car is.

“Was it dangeꩵrous? Potentially. But what’s not dangerous in Formula 1?”

“If you are going to give penalties like that, why don’t you just put a wall there?” pondered Max ꦐVerstappen.

“Then of course, if he made a mistake, the race is over for him. I’m not a fan of penalties, I’ve had them myself many times, so I’ve tried to stay out of the stewards room now🍌, I just go in and say hello! It’s maybe not good for F1 as well, but what can you do about it?”

One ꦦpotential solution a number of drivers raised was to take a look at the rulebook to allow for greater leniency and more autonomy for the ♏stewards in each case.

“I believe there are too many guidelin👍es with penalties that are applied, and sometimes two incident  that can be very different end with the same penal❀ty,” said Romain Grosjean.

“I crossed the pit exit line in Monaco with part of my wheel, got a five-second penalty and one point on my licence. Verstappen got an unsafe release in the pit lane and had a touch with [Valtteri] Bottas and it was a five second and one point pe🙈nalt🌞y, because that’s what is written.

“I think sometimes🎉 it’s hard for the stewards just to decide where they want to go, because everything is 🎶written [out].”

Added Sainz: “I think there was no reason to give a penalty, but the rule is written and the stewards applied the rule. So I also don’t understand all this criticism that the stewards have received over the last fe𝓡w weeks, because they are just trying to do their job and they have a rule which they need to interpret and they need to apply and that’s what they did.

“It’s the fault of the stewards. It’s not the fault of Seb, I think. It’s not the fault of Lewis either - it’s just that there is a rule that I don’t think should be there, which is a bit too drastic and a bit too black and whi💦te and doesn’t interpre🅷t well the rules of racing - that is to race hard and enjoy.”

Verstappen knows better than most how difficult the stewards’ job can sometimes, having spent a day with the Formula E officials earlier this ye꧂ar in Marrakesh as punishment for his altercation with Esteban Ocon in Brazꦐil last year.

“I think they do realise what’s happening, but sometimes they can’t give another penalty because it’s written in the rulebook ཧexactly like that they have to give this penalty,” Verstappen explained.

“Sometimes they don’t even want to give this penalty, but they have to. I read som꧒e stewards got some bad langℱuage messages on Twitter and stuff, which I think is not fair.

“At the end of the day th🤡ey’re trying to do their job in the best possible way, so it’s not fair to say they♔ did not do their job.”

The need for i🔯ntervention in incidents൩ was something Valtteri Bottas questioned: “I’m wondering why there’s always the need to give a penalty to one party if there is, for example, a collision between two cars.

“Obviously there are rules and you need to⭕ stick to those. But, in general, in my view, I 🌠like hard racing and, sometimes, it would be nice to see fewer penalties.”

“My view is that we sh💮ould think about letting us race more and get it on with it ourselve🎶s,” echoed Kevin Magnussen.

“It’s fine to have some rules, bu༒t I think we can ease it up a lot because the cars are so safe these days and the tracks are very safe also that it is not a question of safety. There is room to take a step back and let us get on with it.”

With 2021 mꦰarking a break point for F1 in pretty much every area, it is likely this case will act as the catalyst for a closer look at the rulebook, and particularly the application of penalties.