Johnny Herbert claims penalties “won’t stop” Max Verstappen and explains verdict
Johnny Herbert, who was an F1 steward in Mexico, does not think Max Verstappen will change his aggressive approach.
Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert does not believe Max Verstappen’s punishment at the Mexico City Grand Prix will change his approach to racing Lando Norris.
Herbert was part of the FIA stewards panel who dished out the pair of 10-second time penalties to Verstappen for twice running title rival Norris off track during the same lap as they battled for position in the early stages of last weekend’s grand prix.
Verstappen finished sixth while Norris took second to cut the Red Bull driver’s championship advantage down to 47 points with four races remaining.
Speaking to Action Network, three-time grand prix winner Herbert said: “Those penalties in Mexico won’t stop Max Verstappen from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future.
“The whole intention of Verstappen was to try to let Ferrari get the 1-2 finish. I think that’s definitely what Verstappen intended and tried to achieve, I understand why he did it but I don’t agree with it, I don’t think many people do.
“‘Fair racing’ is something Norris has mentioned before, and that’s the type of fight he wants to have. I don’t see Verstappen’s driving changing because the number one goal is to stop Norris from closing the gap for the drivers’ championship. We potentially still have a lot of interesting racing coming our way.”
Explaining the stewards’ verdict, Herbert added: “It’s the guidelines we followed, the teams agreed with our decisions. The right decision was made, the 20-second penalty for Max Verstappen was not harsh. Was Verstappen’s driving style on the edge or over the top? Yes, it was.
“Verstappen’s driving style was harsh, especially when he’s taking a fellow driver off the track. It’s an absolute no-no from me, current drivers, former drivers and stewards.
“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 and 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 1-2, that is where Verstappen needs to know he doesn’t have to do that. Just win in the cleanest possible way you can.”
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