Johnny Herbert has completely dismissed the criticism that Jos Verstappen leveled at him and his fellow race officials this week following the GP Mexico, without directly naming him. According to Verstappen senior, ‘certain stewards’ have a bias against his son Max. “Jos is completely off the mark,” Herbert retorts when asked.
For two weeks, the Formula 1 world has been almost exclusively focused on ‘illegal’ overtaking maneuvers, time penalties, defensive driving styles, and the rules that govern them. It all started in America with the five-second penalty for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who overtook Max Verstappen off the track in the final stages and thus missed out on third place. This decision caused a great deal of controversy.
A week later in Mexico, the roles were reversed: the world champion received two ten-second penalties in his duel with Norris, his friend and main title rival. This once again sparked a lot of controversy. Norris and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle described Verstappen’s driving style as ‘scandalous’. “Unworthy of a champion,” they chorused.
Although Max Verstappen stated after the race in Mexico that he found the penalties harsh but wouldn’t ‘cry about it’, his father Jos criticized the race direction and the penalties in De Telegraaf. “Max is doing everything he can to win the title and he’s not going to change his driving style just because there are a few stewards who don’t like him,” said the former driver.
‘Jos is really off the mark’
Senior Verstappen referred to Johnny Herbert and Tim Mayer, whose father Teddy was involved in the debut of McLaren in Formula 1. “The FIA should take a good look at the composition of the stewards,” Verstappen said. “Who is appointed and whether there is a conflict of interest, for example, former drivers who have more sympathy for certain drivers or teams.”
“Jos (Verstappen) is really off the mark,” Herbert countered. “I’m actually a huge fan of Max. He’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen,” said the Brit, himself a former F1 driver. “But then Max makes maneuvers like last week in turn 7 in Mexico and turn 4 in Brazil (2021 in duel with Lewis Hamilton). Then I think: ‘Why?’ You’re so much better than that. You don’t need those kinds of actions.”
