Former grand prix driver Johnny Herbert has been dropped
from his role as a steward in Formula 1.
Governing body the FIA said that Herbert's "duties as
an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible".
The statement added that the decision was made "with
regret" and that the three-time race winner was "widely respected and
brought invaluable experience and expertise to his role".
The FIA refused to comment further, but disquiet was centred
on the 60-year-old commenting on decisions he had been involved in as an FIA
steward on a number of betting websites.
Last year, Herbert found himself in the middle of a public
row with four-time world champion Max Verstappen's father following the Mexico
City Grand Prix, at which the Englishman was a steward.
Verstappen was given two 10-second penalties for two
incidents with McLaren's Lando Norris on the same lap.
His father Jos Verstappen said after the race that "the
FIA should take a good look at the staffing of the stewards, who they put there
and whether there is no appearance of a conflict of interest".
In an interview conducted via a gambling outlet, Herbert
rejected accusations of British bias as "ridiculous", and described
Max Verstappen as "very worldly - he's very open to chat about anything
and you have a really nice conversation with him".
But he defended the decision made, calling Verstappen's
driving "over the top" and saying the way he drove against Norris in
Mexico "frustrates me massively" and that the Dutchman had got into
"this horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow
driver off the race track".
Herbert is the second experienced steward to be sacked by
the FIA in just over two months.
American Tim Mayer was dismissed before last year's Sao
Paulo Grand Prix. He told OceanNewsUK the decision was made by FIA
president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, because the Emirati "took offence" at
the contents of an appeal document filed by the Circuit of the Americas (Cota),
host of the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, with which Mayer was involved.
Herbert is the latest in a series of senior officials who
have left the FIA in the past year.
Mayer was one of four figures to depart in two weeks last
autumn, in addition to the deputy Formula 2 race director Janette Tan, the F1
race director Niels Wittich and FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri.
The FIA has also created unease throughout F1 by a
series of changes to its statutes that opponents say reduce accountability at
the organisation.
And last week it introduced changes that codify
steps in the regulations by which drivers could face race bans for swearing or
criticising FIA officials.
