Fernando Alonso today led the call for a former driver to join the highly-criticised race stewards’ panel.

The three-man body that sits in judgment at each race has been slated on numerous occasions this season following a number of controversial decisions.

To guarantee impartiality, world governing body, the FIA, alternate the trio for every race, a move that was taken at the start of this year.

The FIA took the decision to release Tony Scott-Andrews at the end of last season from his position as a permanent steward, a role he held for two years.

Since then the stewards have made a number of apparently poor calls with regard to penalties, and that has caused widespread consternation among the drivers.

Now there is a groundswell of opinion that an ex-driver should be brought in to restore order and stability.

Two-time champion Alonso said: “I think it’s a good idea to have a former driver with the stewards to help them.

“That’s because the decisions they take can be difficult if you have never driven a Formula One car.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get the same feeling and the same comment from all the drivers on the same accident.

“Some of them will think it’s fair, some not, which is normal.

“For the drivers, what will help is to have consistency with the penalties. If on one occasion you do something and are penalised, it should not be possible that the next time you do the same thing you don’t get penalised.

“All we ask is for a little bit more consistency, even if they (the decisions) are very harsh.”