LEWIS HAMILTON has called for “non-biased stewards” ahead of the 2022 Formula One season.

The seven-time British world champion hopes future decisions made by officials are not influenced by their friendship with drivers.

Hamilton said: “We need to make sure we get non-biased stewards.

“Race drivers, some are very, very good friends with certain individuals, some travel with certain individuals and tend to take more of a keen liking to some of them.

“I think people who have no bias and are super central when it comes to making decisions.”

This comes after Hamilton lost out on a record-breaking EIGHTH world-title on the final lap in Abu Dhabi last season. 

Race director Michael Masi controversially cleared the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen under a safety car, allowing the Dutchman to have a clear run on Hamilton with fresh tyres to clinch his first championship.

But in response to Hamilton, Red Bull boss Christian Horner denies any knowledge of drivers travelling to and from races with stewards.

Horner said: “I don’t think there is an intended bias, I’m not aware of any stewards travelling with drivers to races. 

“We have a new president that is looking to bolster the structure and to bring in the equivalent of VAR which is something that certainly the top teams have available to them. 

“I certainly don’t think there was any bias from stewards during the last seasons.”

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff played down Hamilton’s suggestion of bias and agreed with Horner’s sentiment.

He said: “I think we need professionalism in the stewards room. 

“I don’t think there is a conscious bias to be honest.

“It’s intelligent people, but most important is whether we talk about race direction, the support they will have back at base, or the stewards, there needs to be a standard. 

“This is what we deserve and this is what everybody expects. 

“I think there are some very good people that we can build upon. 

“Most important – and we all have talked about it last year – was the topic of inconsistency.

“There shouldn’t be a lot of room to interpret the rules. 

“There shouldn’t be a lot of leniency depending on what a potential outcome could be, but the rules are the rules.”