Johnny Herbert speaks out following dismissal as FIA steward ahead of F1 2025

Johnny Herbert has released a statement following his dismissal as FIA steward ahead of the 2025 F1 season.

On Wednesday, the FIA announced that Herbert would be axed, citing his punditry work as a main factor for his sacking.

While Herbert has not been a TV pundit for Sky Sports since the end of 2022, the former British F1 driver has regularly made headlines for his opinions throughout the past 12 months.

Throughout last year, Herbert was critical of Max Verstappen’s driving and “intimidation” tactics.

His comments irked Jos Verstappen, who questioned why a steward should be allowed to be publicly outspoken.

The FIA have taken action ahead of the new season, relieving Herbert of his duties.

Herbert’s statement

Herbert took to Instagram to respond to the news.

He wrote:  “I’m very grateful for the opportunity of being an FIA Driver Steward and I have thoroughly enjoyed the role I have been involved in over the years. It is a difficult job and there are tough decisions that have to be made,

“As stewards, we have and will continue to treat both drivers and team personnel with the utmost respect and remain impartial at all times during all F1 Grand Prix weekends.

“Finally, I’m very grateful to the President and everyone at the FIA for the opportunities that I have been given.”

Herbert critical of Verstappen

Herbert was vocal following the Mexico City Grand Prix, where Verstappen picked up two 10-second time penalties for incidents with title rival Lando Norris.

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.”