Former F1 steward calls for Max Verstappen disqualification

Former F1 steward Johnny Herbert believes Max Verstappen should have been thrown out of the results following his incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

At a late-race safety car restart, Russell attacked Verstappen for position into Turn 1 which forced Verstappen to run wide.

He was instructed by his Red Bull team to hand the position over to Russell as the team feared a time penalty - however the stewards later revealed they did not feel Verstappen gained an advantage by running off the track.

Verstappen voiced anger over the instruction from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase but appeared to move aside to let Russell by, before contact was made between the pair.

The four-time champion was handed a 10-second time penalty, which dropped him from fourth to 10th at the chequered flag - but Herbert thinks a much harsher punishment should have been applied.

“Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified,” Herbert told RoobetAlternatives. 

“There's a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents. 

“Verstappen is the best driver on the track, with the best racecraft and judgement, but there is always a story with him. 

“It's usually some kind of racing incident we all end up talking about with Verstappen, unfortunately.

“It was clear as day that Verstappen's move on George Russell was on purpose. He backed out at the right corner, where he could then attack and retake the place by driving into Russell. To me, that's overstepping the mark.”

Disqualifications for on-track incidents are rare, however the stewards have utilised the strictest possible penalty in the past.

Seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher was excluded from the entire drivers' standings in 1997 after deliberately hitting title rival Jacques Villeneuve at the season finale at Jerez.

Herbert believes the stewards should have enforced a harsher penalty in order to set a precedent.

“A black flag is something that could have been thought of by the stewards and the race director, you have to stop this wheel-banging type of racing,” he said.

“Anyone can go and crash into another car, it's totally wrong to purposely bang into a fellow driver.

“For me, I'd like to think I was a hard and clean racer, and Verstappen can be that too, that collision overstepped the mark. I don't want to see it, nor do the drivers. 

“That type of racing should not happen, if it does happen, the penalty should be harsher to stamp it out. It can't just be a 10-second penalty, otherwise you're treating it like any other racing incident.”

Herbert also questioned why Verstappen is resorting to such moves, having shown wheel-to-wheel brilliance in the past - including an eye-catching overtake for the lead on Oscar Piastri at Imola last month.

“The move he made in Imola made me go 'wow', then the move he made in Spain takes away that 'wow', it totally disappears and it's frustrating. 

“I've said it before and I'll say it again until I'm blue in the face, Verstappen doesn't need to make these moves.

“He has the skill to make clear overtakes, and the wheel banging is probably to make a point because of what happened at Turn 1 on the restart with Russell.”