1997 Formula 1 world champion Jaqcues Villeneuve has told Grosvenor Sport that he disagrees with statements made by Jos Verstappen to FIA steward Johnny Herbert .
Herbert raced in Formula 1 between 1989 and 2000 and won a total of three Grands Prix. During his time as a Formula 1 driver, Herbert drove for teams such as Benetton, Tyrrell, Lotus, Ligier, Sauber, Stewart and Jaguar. The man from Brentwood knows a thing or two about Formula 1.
That is also why he is occasionally appointed as a steward by the FIA . During the Mexico City Grand Prix that was again the case. In that race Max Verstappen received a total of twenty seconds of time penalty for two incidents with Lando Norris .
Herbert critical of Verstappen’s driving style
After the race, Herbert said he didn’t agree with Verstappen’s mentality behind the wheel. For example, Herbert said that Verstappen didn’t want to race fairly, while his title rival Norris did.
“Those time penalties in Mexico won’t stop Max Verstappen from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future. Verstappen’s whole intention was to try and get Ferrari to finish first and second. I think that’s definitely what Verstappen was planning and trying to achieve, I understand why he did it but I don’t agree with it, I don’t think many people do ,” Herbert started his story.
“‘Fair racing’ is something Norris has said before and that’s the kind 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 to the Drivers’ Championship. There are potentially many interesting races coming up ,” the former Formula 1 driver told Action Network.
Verstappen senior stands up for son Max
Herbert’s statements were not well received by both Jos and Max Verstappen. The former even felt that the FIA ”should take a good look at the stewards’ staffing to see if there is a conflict of interest” .
“I thought Max went too far the second time in Mexico. I think he thinks the same now. I think a steward should not talk to the press at all and should do his job all the time. And that is certainly not the case now ,” said Jos the Boss.
“Max is not going to change his driving style because there were a few stewards present who did not like him anyway. The FIA should take a good look at the composition of the stewards, who they put there and whether there is no appearance of a conflict of interest ,” said Verstappen senior.
Villeneuve goes against Jos the Boss
In an interview with Grosvenor Sport, Villeneuve has now stated that he disagrees with Jos Verstappen’s statements. According to the Canadian Formula 1 champion, Herbert did nothing wrong during and after the race weekend in Mexico City.
“I didn’t see anything bad from Herbert and as far as I can see the rules were followed in Mexico. They do the marshaling for free, so (Jos Verstappen, ed.) can’t ask a pundit to give up his job to do something for nothing. Then you don’t have marshals! It’s not always easy to be completely neutral. It’s that simple. But the rules are badly written, that’s the first problem,” Villeneuve said.
