WHEN Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg go wheel to wheel for Formula One drivers championship they will be kept in order by a driving instructor from Otley.

Steve Stringwell will be one of the race stewards at the Marina Bay circuit in Abu Dhabi when the two Mercedes driver battle it out for the world title in the final Grand Prix of the Year next Sunday.

And the man who has earned the nickname of Judge Dredd will not be afraid to act if anybody breaks the rules the rules.

Last year he was one of the stewards who imposed a £21,000 fine on Sebastian Vettel for doing doughnuts on the track after winning the Indian Grand Prix in Delhi.

Stringwell, 59, will be officiating at his fourth Grand Prix and heads out to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Despite all the attention being on the title battle and Hamilton’s 17 point lead, Stringwell says he isn’t bothered by the figures.

“As a steward you cannot allow the personalities or the figures to interfere with your decision making. You have to look objectively at all the evidence before you and make a decision. There is a mass of video evidence and technical data but we have to get our decisions right.

“There is no room for error. Once a driver receives a ten-second drive-through penalty, his chances of winning are as good as over. You have to be precise and fair in your decision-making.”

Stringwell started marshalling in 1967, alongside a rallying career that lasted more than a decade. He joined the UK Motorsport Association, starting out as a steward in the late 1980s, and moving up through the ranks. He became chairman of the national court and then took on more advisory roles.

In his stewarding capacity, Steve has overseen many different racing series, including Porsche Supercup and British Touring Cars. He has helped the stewarding process for support races at the British Grand Prix weekend since 2005, and stewarded his first F1 race in Australia 2012.

“As a steward you have to look objectively at all the evidence before you and make a decision. There is a mass of video evidence and technical data but we have to get our decisions right,” he said.

“There is no room for error. Once a driver receives a ten-second drive-through penalty, his chances of winning are as good as over. You have to be precise and fair in your decision-making.

“You also have to make sure it is a fair race and that means applying the regulations properly.”

The Yorkshireman is well qualified for dealing with judicial matters. Away from the track he is a magistrate and is also chairman of the judicial advisory panel for the MSA, British motorsport’s governing body.

He has gained a wealth of experience officiating with the A1 Grand Prix series, the British Touring Cars Championship and is chairman of the stewards panel for the Porsche Super Cup, which travels around the world for much of the year as part of the Formula One race-day calendar.

He was recently in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas for the final round of the Porsche Super Cup.

Looking forward to Abu Dhabi he said: “It is a great honour to be chosen and I certainly never expected to be officiating at such high profile events when I started stewarding at Ilkley Motor Club events.”