Johnny Herbert vs Max Verstappen saga continues with latest jibe from the FIA steward
The war of words between Johnny Herbert and Max Verstappen has continued still with the FIA steward questioning why the Dutch driver didn't race in Mexico in the same manner as he did in Brazil. Things have been tense between the Dutch driver and the former racer as Herbert's integrity while adjudicating events has been brought into question.
It all started in Austin, where Verstappen and Lando Norris were involved in an intense battle that was decided in the Dutch driver's favor after he made use of the loophole in racing regulations. Going into the race in Mexico, there were question marks over the state of the racing regulations as many drivers and observers felt that the current regulations were a deterrent to fair racing.
During the race weekend in Mexico, Verstappen hinted at "British Bias" in F1 when he said that he had the "wrong passport" for the sport. This continued into the race as the driver was given two 10-second time penalties for his incidents with Lando Norris.
Following the race, Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen indicated that the FIA stewards who had a conflict of interest should not be part of the panel. Verstappen was understood by many to be referring to Herbert, who is a Brit, and Tim Mayer, whose father was co-founder of McLaren.
Max continued to be on the offensive against the media throughout the weekend in Brazil but all of this changed when the driver won the race on Sunday. With the race win, the Dutch driver was not under the same pressure as earlier against Lando Norris in terms of the title battle and the stress was off. Verstappen did, however, take a dig against the British media again during the presser, questioning their absence.
In the latest development, Johnny Herbert has taken a dig at the Red Bull driver, questioning why Max couldn't have driven like this in Mexico as well where he got penalized. Herbert, meanwhile, also declared that the title battle was more or less done. Questioning why Verstappen didn't race like this often, he said (Talking to SafestBettingSites.co.uk,),
“The title race has to be over! When you do a drive like Max Verstappen did, you deserve to be in the position. He has earned the World Championship. That was a stunning drive. The conditions were tricky on a demanding track, and he dealt with it supremely."
He added,
“The first lap proved his racing mind, and ability is so much better than anyone else at the time. He has an uncanny belief in himself and places the car in the position that he needs to. The question for me again is why did he do what he did in Mexico when he showed in Brazil he didn’t need to. It was brilliant to see what he did. It is showing that maturity is coming, and his sheer speed is unbelievable.”
Herbert advises Max Verstappen to win in the cleanest way possible
Further expanding on his point, Herbert said he found it "frustrating" when Verstappen takes such an approach to racing, which makes it very hard for the stewards to not take action against him. He said,
"I am such a big fan of Verstappen and it frustrates me massively when he drives the way he did in Mexico. When Max Verstappen goes into this horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow driver off the race track, that’s where Verstappen needs to know he doesn’t have to do that. Just win in the cleanest possible way you can.”
The war of words will perhaps die down soon now as the title battle is now more or less sealed in favor of the Red Bull driver. Max Verstappen's win in the F1 Brazilian GP means that Lando Norris has to outscore the Dutch driver by more than 20 points in each of the next three races.