FIA steward Johnny Herbert has sharply responded to allegations that some stewards, particularly British ones like him, are biased against Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The accusations flared after Verstappen's penalties in Mexico, where the Dutchman received two 10-second penalties and two penalty points on his super license for clashes with Lando Norris. Verstappen's father, Jos, voiced his opinion to De Telegraaf, suggesting some officials "don't like" his son, stating, "Max is not going to adjust his driving style just because there are a few stewards who don't like him."
Although some suspect Jos's comments were aimed specifically at Herbert, who was part of the stewards' panel in Mexico, also implicated has been Tim Mayer, son of McLaren co-founder Teddy Mayer. "The FIA should take a good look at the composition of the stewards, and who they put there, and whether there is any conflict of interest – for example, former drivers who have more sympathy for certain drivers or teams," Jos added.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull's advisor, argued that Verstappen's penalties felt more like an attempt to "make an example" of the triple world champion. Marko told Osterreich that the punishments are inconsistent and added, "We don't necessarily need these ex-racing drivers – we need professional stewards. Neutral people who make objective decisions based on fixed rules."
However, Herbert defended both his role and the FIA's guidelines, dismissing accusations of favoritism. "There always seems to be an issue about us British stewards being biased," Herbert said. "But when we're in that room, we abide by the rules and guidelines from the FIA. To say it's biased is absolutely ridiculous and not the case," he continued. "We try as hard as possible to be fair in our judgement."
According to Herbert, feedback from F1 teams aligns with the decisions made by the stewards. "The decisions and penalties applied have been pretty much correct the whole season. Teams have come up to us after races and agreed with our decisions."
Herbert admitted, though, that he was personally disappointed by Verstappen's driving tactics in Mexico. "I am such a big fan of Verstappen, and it frustrates me massively when he drives the way he did in Mexico. He doesn't need to do it – he's so good in the cockpit," Herbert explained.
"At this point in the championship, he just needs to stay out of trouble and drive as well as possible. When Verstappen goes into this horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow driver off the race track so Ferrari can get the one-two, that's where he needs to know he doesn't have to do that. Just win in the cleanest possible way you can."
