FIA steward reveals he has ‘bloody good chats’ with Max Verstappen despite tensions over penalties
Johnny Herbert reckoned that he had no personal grudges against Max Verstappen amidst Jos Verstappen's accusations of false steward verdict.
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Max Verstappen and Jos Verstappen (via IMAGO), Johnny Herbert (in circle, via Planetf1)
Max Verstappen‘s 20-second penalty at the Mexican GP saw the grid divide into two halves. Multiple individuals believed that there was a personal bias of the stewards against Verstappen to penalize him so strictly. Johnny Herbert was amongst the officials present during the Dutchman’s verdict of the penalty as the former faced a lot of backlashes. Herbert broke the silence on the matter since then.
Jos Verstappen had accused Johnny Herbert of being biased against Max Verstappen amidst the 20-second penalty. This accusation sat well with the previous claims of the sport having a nationality bias towards the British people in the sport. Hence, despite the negativity, Herbert showcased calm candor and explained the situation from his end.
Johnny Herbert claimed that this was Max Verstappen’s personality. Moreover, Herbert noted that one could have a ‘bloody good chat’ with Verstappen if he were present. The Englishman further highlighted that the 27-year-old was worldly and open to chat at any time. Hence, the reigning world champion was ‘very understanding’ of the entire penalty fiasco at the Mexican GP.
That’s Max, If he was here today, you’d have a bloody good chat with him. He’s very worldly. He’s very open to chat about anything and you have a really nice conversation with him. So he was very understanding.
Johnny Herbert told Planetf1.com.
Johnny Herbert claims he ‘enjoys’ officiating such difficult situations during live races
The stewards and officials must work on the offenses quickly and produce a fair and unbiased verdict on the same. The Max Verstappen and Lando Norris incident at the Mexican GP was one such difficult situation that Johhny Herbert enjoyed. The Englishman liked how the four stewards worked on the problem together and came to a common ground regarding the penalty.
But I enjoy it because when we get those situations, they’re not easy, they’re not hard. There’s four of us in a room, we all have to sort of try and agree with what we do. We have slightly different opinions. But then eventually we come together.
Johhny Herbert added.
The 2024 season has continued to peak in excitement and racing action at the forefront. Multiple drivers and teams have set their eyes on both the championships amidst the uncertainty. The competition has never been closer as multiple teams improved heavily in performance mid-way through the season.
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Aditya Pandya
(1440 Articles Published)