The FIA has announced that Johnny Herbert has stepped down as a driver steward for the foresseable future due to a conflict of interest.
Herbert had resumed his role as a driver steward in 2023 after being dropped by Sky Sports as one of their driver pundits at the end of the 2022 season.
He received some criticism from Max Verstappen who claimed Herberts comments were ‘abnormal’ after he criticised the Dutchman for forcing Lando Norris off track during the Mexican Grand Prix. Herbert was also a driver steward that weekend.
Jos Verstappen also criticised Herbert, who felt the British driver was biased against the Red Bull driver when ruling on two incidents with Norris. Now the FIA has dropped Herbert by claiming his role as a driver steward and pundit are “incompatible” with the role.
F1 fans have reacted to the news on social media by saying the same thing, following the official announcement by the governing body.
F1 fans react to ‘good decision’ by the FIA to axe Johnny Herbert as driver steward
Taking to social media, fans have expressed their delight at the decision by the FIA to axe Herbert following his comments directed towards Verstappen last season.
Reacting to the post, on fan said: “Good riddance. That’s what happens when you talk too much and make stupid decisions against certain drivers just because they’re not British.”
Another fan also expressed delight with the decision: “Well done. A good decision at last by the FIA.” One fan also made reference to what was said by Verstappen’s father: “Jos Verstappen was right all around.”
One fan believes the FIA should have acted quicker in the wake of his comments in the media as a pundit: “He should have been gone much earlier.” Another fan wrote: “That’s the way to go” while one fan also said: “THANK GODDDDD!”
Should the FIA get perminent race stewards?
There is a growing desire for the FIA to implement perminent stewards following the decisions made last season which impacted Verstappen and Norris.
Jos Verstappen thinks the FIA should learn from FIFA and have a perminent set of stewards who attend every race, rather than the current system which sees them have a rotation of four and one perminant member.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has previously stated that having a perminant panel would cost the governing body too much money, even though they are set the benefit from increased entry fees and the controversial new misconduct rules that could see F1 drivers fined up to €120,000 (£100,000) for swearing.
Perminent stewards are not guaranteed to solve the problem of inconsistent penalties, with the FIA having clarified some of the rules of engagement following discussions with drivers last year.
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