Herbert: I was an F1 Steward in Austria, it was Verstappen's fault
F1 NewsTuesday, 02 July 2024 at 13:21
Johnny Herbert was an FIA-appointed Formula 1 Steward for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, he and his colleagues adjudged Max Verstappen to have deliberately punted Lando Norris, during their ferocious battle for the win at Red Bull Ring.
With a one-two beckoning for the Red Bull driver and his McLaren rival, they flung everything at each other, both crossing the limits until they collided. The Dutchman went on to finish P5 after a pitstop for repairs, while the dismayed Briton suffered a DNF thanks to the damage.
The incident of course blew up on social media, with most sensible pundits agreeing that what we saw on the day was the old Verstappen, not the mature triple F1 World Champion we all thought he was. Needless to say, in these days of increased tribalism in sporting arenas, the Orange Army saw no wrong in the move.
Best placed to make the call, sitting in the 'eagles-nest' that is race control at Red Bull Ring, were FIA-appointed Race Stewards Felix Holter, Matthew Selley, Wilhelm Singer and Herbert.
This is what former F1 driver turned pundit Herbert told Coin Poker: "It was Max’s fault. He is a hard racer. He is very, very hard to beat. He intimidates everybody. That intimidation is something that Lewis. Michael Schumacher, and Ayrton Senna, have always done.
"When you come up against Max as he is driving today, there’s a point if you’re Lando that you have to say: ‘I am here. I am at your side. You are trying to squeeze me off the circuit. And I am not going to move.’
"Lando did the right thing. He did not move. He did not have to. Some people said he could have moved. But that is not how you beat Max or how you win the Grand Prix."
It's the side of Max that has always been part of his armoury
Herbert continued: "We haven’t seen it for a while, because he has been so dominant. It is interesting to see how he reacts under pressure. He did not agree with the penalty that came his way which also included two points on his license.
"I am sure he will reflect and once he has had time to think about it and look at the video he will understand that that is not a situation he could into again because it might harm his chances of winning the World Championships[ this year.
"It is good that he is under pressure for the first time in a long time. Lando and McLaren have been chipping away at it and now you start seeing those little cracks starting to appear. Max had to go back to his hard self which sometimes just goes over the top and gets himself into trouble.
"It is deliberate which is why I use the word intimidation where he goes to the very limits without getting himself in trouble. But he has always had this in his history.
"I like competition because I think it is a very important part of racing. But I sometimes don’t like it when he gets to the point that you are actually forcing a car off the circuit. That is not what it is all about. It is about placing the car. He does place the car very well, but he just has that tendency to put everyone else in a position which goes beyond the drivers’ unwritten code. That is what we saw in Austria.
"That is the hardest one that can be applied under FIA guidelines that we operate under as stewards. McLaren have said it should have been harsher, but that is the game all teams play.
"If someone had flipped over or been barrel-rolling down the track I don’t know if that would have changed things. Forcing a driver off the circuit or causing an incident is what it came under. That was the maximum sanction we could have taken."
When we were watching it, it immediately came down to whose fault was it
"And it was Max’s fault. The interesting thing is we were just about to penalise Lando at the time because he had gone outside the track limit four times and we gave him a five-second penalty literally at the moment they came into contact.
"We were dealing with that when the contact happened and I looked up and saw the tyre off. The good thing with someone like Max is that although he does not agree with it, he will find a way to use his weaponry in a different way.
"As stewards, we looked at his under-braking and it was not clear. It was clever and just and just made it a bit more difficult for Lando to pick whether he went left or right into a particular corner.
"He will adjust somehow and find another way of doing it but still put the same pressure to whoever his opponent is. Max is now aware that he can’t put that pressure on Lando and expect him just to move out of the way, that Lando will fight back. Up until Austria Max had always won. Now he is not winning.
"It will be interesting to see how Lando responds. He will now be in a better place after what has happened. He has realised he knows she has a chance of beating Max at his own game. That will be fascinating to watch."
I don’t want him to change his driving style because I find it really exciting
"It is all about consistency. We have to abide by the FIA regulations which say if there is a car which makes contact with another car it is a ten-second penalty full stop. That is the consistency which you need.
"To go well that was more extreme doesn’t work. It was hard racing and one driver made a little error in squeezing the other. That led to the contact.
"There is no sliding scale of penalties because that would become a bigger issue and more subjective. If you try to slice up an incident it causes more problems and then it is more inconsistent and everyone gets more unhappy. Verstappen will think he did no wrong.
Wearing his F1 fan cap, on a personal note Herbert added: "Will it change his mindset? Probably not. It will not change the way he goes racing. No driver before, like Michael Schumacher, never changed their approach.
"And I don’t want him to. I find it really exciting. It is just when he gets to that point, he can only blame him. It was very clear to everyone, but he would not change his stripes. Max didn’t come to the stewards’ room. We made the decision and that is it," concluded Herbert.
Prior to the shunt, Verstappen 2.0 was in imperious form this weekend in Austria
The Dutchman topped FP1, Sprint Qualifying, Sprint Race and a 'ballistic' lap around Red Bull Ring, four-tenths of a second faster than next best on a 65-second lap!
Ditto, in the race. Verstappen pegged the lead at eight sesonds. Pitted for a final time, only for the hitherto faultless RBR Crew to drop the ball for about seven seconds which meant the #1 car emerged only a tad in front of a feisty Norris.
The difference? The Red Bull on old Pirelli Mediums with the McLaren shod with new ones.
On Lap 64, Max 2.0 gave way to Max 1.0, and we have what we have. A revved-up rivalry that everyone in F1 has craved (whether they admit it or not) since the epic 2021 F1 World Championship year.
Big Question: Do you agree with Johnny Herbert and his FIA F1 Steward colleagues?
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