Red Bull boss Christian Horner wants the FIA to stop leaving Formula 1 teams to second-guess stewards' likely decisions and instead offer better guidance for when drivers do or do not need to give positions back.
That matter was thrust into the spotlight at the Spanish Grand Prix when Max Verstappen was involved in a controversial coming together with George Russell, crashing into his rival amid frustrations about being told by Red Bull to give fourth place up to the Mercedes driver.
It subsequently emerged, however, that the entire situation could have been avoided because the FIA deemed that Verstappen did not need to cede the position.
An FIA stewards' investigation into the incident at Turn 1 after the late safety car restart, where Russell made a lunge down the inside that forced Verstappen to take to the run-off, ruled that the Mercedes driver was in the wrong as he had not maintained full control of his car.
From Horner's perspective, the way things played out exposed a flaw in the system that he said was unfair once the FIA has started looking at an incident.
He suggested teams are having to gamble on deciding whether to hold onto positions they think are theirs and risk a penalty, or give them up and later find out they did not have to.
Speaking after the Barcelona race, Horner said: "That's where it would be nice as the referee, as a race director, to either say, 'Play on' or, 'You need to give it back'.
"It's very hard for the team subjectively to try and make that call because you're going on historical precedence.
"You're looking at what you have in front of you, and you're trying to pre-empt what the stewards and the race directors are thinking.
"I think it would be beneficial to the teams in that instance for the race director to make that call and say, 'You either give it back or you get a penalty', rather than having to try and second guess what are the stewards going to do."
What's changed in recent years
F1 teams used to be able to consult directly with race control over incidents.
But this changed at the start of the 2022 season under then race director Niels Wittich, who wanted to step away from that system of communication used by his predecessor Michael Masi.
It was felt that there had become a tendency for teams to game the system and argue against the need to give places up for incidents that they knew were unfair.
Wittich felt that teams themselves were more than capable of understanding when they were in the right and wrong - so the onus should be on them to deal with it.
But Horner said he feels that the imposition of driving guidelines in F1 has made things much harder for teams to judge how the stewards may perceive an incident once it is being investigated.
And, well aware of the negative impact that Red Bull's order to Verstappen had on the rest of his race, Horner was adamant something has to change.
"He [Verstappen] was obviously upset because first of all he's had [Charles] Leclerc take a swipe at him on the straight, and then he's got dive bombed at Turn 1 by George," said Horner.
"The way that these regulations are now, it's all about where that front axle is. The drivers know the rules and they're the rules that they're playing to.
"Now the argument is, was George under control at that point in time? Would he have made the corner?
"We've seen so many occasions this year where penalties have been given. We've seen it been noted, we've seen it gone to the stewards. The next thing is you're expecting to get a penalty.
"So that's why it was, 'OK, do you know what, we're going to have to give this place up'."
Horner said the matter should be tabled at the next meeting of F1's Sporting Advisory Committee, which is the forum for debate between the FIA and teams over matters involving sporting regulations.
But not everyone in the paddock agreed with Horner that the current system does not work.
Red Bull's former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who is now team principal at Sauber, argued teams know the rules fully well and whether or not they are in the right.
On the first lap of the Spanish GP, for example, Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg was forced to take the Turn 1 escape road and could potentially have been in breach of the rules for gaining a lasting advantage.
However, after analysis on the Sauber pitwall, the team elected to stand firm and he raced on - without receiving a penalty.
"Teams are really professional," said Wheatley. "They would have given recommendations I'm sure, up and down the pitlane.
"We had a really good look at what happened in Turn 1. If we'd been in any doubt, we might have handled the situation differently, but we were very confident of where we were.
"I think stewarding has come on enormously recently. I think the FIA is doing a really good job with that, but it's a work in progress. I still don't think I've seen two overtakes look the same."
Red Bull's internal review
When Horner spoke to the media after the Spanish GP, he said he had not had an opportunity to discuss the Russell incident with Verstappen.
But he said it was very obvious that Red Bull's decision to put Verstappen on inferior hard tyres for the safety car restart, and then getting involved in incidents with Charles Leclerc and George Russell, had upset his driver.
"You could hear that he was frustrated," said Horner. "He didn't agree, you can hear, with both Charles and George.
"I haven't had a chance to speak to him because he's had to speak to you guys [the media] and now he's up in the stewards talking about the Charles incident.
"It is something that we'll discuss internally and look at."
Horner did, however, brush off suggestions from former world champion Nico Rosberg that Verstappen should have been black-flagged or disqualified for the incident with Russell.
"Nico is quite sensational in the way he commentates," said Horner. "So we'll leave it there."
