Alan Jones will serve as the guest steward at this weekend’s Formula One Grand Prix at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 1980 F1 world champion has accepted the role, offering expert advise to the stewards at the Suzuka race.
Jones was invited to be the guest steward for the back-to-back races in Japan and Korea, but was forced to decline the Korean race offer.
Jones made his debut as guest steward at Korea last year and is pleased to have been invited back.
“I’m looking forward to being the guest steward in Japan,” Jones told Speedcafe.com.
“They ask ex-F1 drivers to sit in as stewards and adjudicate the races. I’ve raced at Suzuka and I suppose that my role is to advise as I may be a little bit better informed to make a decision on certain incidents.
“Compared to someone who hasn’t raced a car, I think I’m probably better equipped to decided whether it was a driver mistake or a deliberate incident.”
Other guest stewards this year have included the likes of Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercars driver Emanuele Pirro, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Derek Warwick and Johnny Herbert.
Jones says that he expects McLaren to offer Red Bull a challenge at the Japanese race.
“It’s an exciting circuit, and I think we’ll see a resurgence of form from McLaren,” Jones said.
“They an have always been fast there so I think they can take the challenge to the Red Bulls.”
The Japanese Grand Prix kicks off with two practice session on Friday.
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Japanese Grand Prix Race Guide
