FIA steward Derek Warwick says Max Verstappen was “absolutely wrong” in his clash with Mercedes driver George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
And he believes the punishment Verstappen received was the “perfect” course of action by the stewards despite calls for the Red Bull man to have been disqualified.
FIA steward Derek Warwick weighs in on Max Verstappen’s Spanish GP penalty
Verstappen had an explosive end to the Spanish GP earlier this month, culminating in an ugly incident with bitter rival Russell.
The Red Bull driver was unimpressed by his team’s request to give his position to Russell after cutting the track to remain ahead at Turn 1.
Verstappen slowed on the approach to Turn 5 to allow Russell past before accelerating and making firm contact with the Mercedes.
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The stewards acted swiftly by hitting Verstappen with a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to 10th in the final classification.
Verstappen was also handed three penalty points, putting the reigning four-time World Champion on the brink of a one-race ban.
Warwick claimed four podium finishes in 147 F1 appearances for the likes of Renault, Brabham and Lotus between 1981 and 1993, as well as winning the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1992.
The 70-year-old regularly attends races in his capacity as an FIA steward, with his most recent appearance coming at last month’s Miami Grand Prix.
Despite his senior position with the FIA, Warwick has weighed in on the incident between Verstappen and Russell in Spain.
And he has defended the decision to give Verstappen a 10-second penalty despite complaints from the likes of Nico Rosberg, the 2016 World Champion and former Mercedes driver, that the Red Bull driver should have been disqualified on the spot instead.
He told Plejmo: “I think everyone has to realise that if you are a driver who is used to winning like Max, it is very difficult when things go against you in a race that on paper, with three stops, looks like you could win.
“And we all know he’s a winner.
“Should he have done what he did, in Turn 5 with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for that? Yes.
“Sebastian Vettel was once given a 10-second drive-through penalty in Baku after an incident with Lewis Hamilton [in 2017], but he deliberately drove into Lewis.
“Whereas if you watch this video, it seems to me that although he dove in, he then did turn away from George, but momentum pushed him against George.
“It is absolutely wrong and the FIA was right to give him a penalty.
“I think many people would say he should have been given a suspension as an example to young karters, and they are probably right, but I think the penalty was perfect.
“You have to look at each incident individually. This is not what I like to see.”
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Warwick’s comments to Plejmo, a prominent gambling platform, are likely to reignite the debate over a conflict of interest among FIA stewards following a high-profile case involving Johnny Herbert, the three-time F1 race winner, last season.
Herbert’s place in the stewards’ room came under scrutiny after he was on the four-man stewards’ panel that handed Verstappen two 10-second penalties in quick succession at last year’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Speaking days after the race, Herbert criticised what he described as Verstappen’s “horrible mindset” in wheel-to-wheel combat with his competitors via a gambling website.
The incident in Mexico came just weeks after Herbert was also on the stewards’ panel in Singapore, where Verstappen was controversially punished for swearing in a press conference.
Herbert revealed on that occasion that Verstappen had got “really worked up” in the stewards’ room as he defended his position.
Herbert had been expected to remain as a steward for the F1 2025 season, with the 60-year-old initially planning to appear at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.
However, Herbert was dropped from his role as an FIA steward in January with president Mohammed Ben Sulayem admitting that his media duties had made his place in the stewards’ room untenable.
Ben Sulayem said at the time: “Johnny was a very good commissioner, but there was a conflict of interest and he knows that.
“You can’t be a journalist in a big company and express your point of view and then play the commissioner, who is a referee. You [might] say: ‘My best case scenario is that so-and-so wins.’
“And what if that driver you prefer has another driver in first or second place? How do you make your judgement?
“He understood [the decision] and he thanked the FIA [for the opportunity] and we thanked him for what he did.”
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