Johnny Herbert axed as FIA F1 driver steward after mutual agreement
29th January 2025The FIA have confirmed Johnny Herbert will no longer serve as a FIA driver steward due to conflicting work as both a steward and media pundit.
Feature image credit: FIA
The former F1 driver, Herbert has previously served as a driver steward on the FIA stewarding panel after taking up the role after leaving his punditry job with Sky Sports F1. Despite this, the three-time race winner has offered his views through other outlets.
On Wednesday, the FIA confirmed they had removed Herbert from its rotating panel after it was ‘mutually agreed.’ The Governing body believed his role as a neutral steward and his opinions as a pundit ‘were incompatible.’
In a statement, the FIA said:
“It is with regret that we announce today that Johnny Herbert will no longer fulfil the position of F1 driver steward for the FIA.
It is with regret that we announce that Johnny Herbert will no longer fulfil the position of F1 driver steward for the FIA#FIA pic.twitter.com/e6CTWtAWJZ
— FIA (@fia) January 29, 2025
“Johnny is widely respected and brought invaluable experience and expertise to his role. However, after discussion, it was mutually agreed that his duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible.
“We thank him for his service and wish him well in his future endeavours.”
During his time as a driver steward, Herbert was more notably part of the stewarding panel which awarded Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with a 20-second time penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix, last year. This was a result of two 10 second time penalties as the Dutchman fought fiercely with McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Following the Mexico GP, Verstappen’s father and former Formula 1 driver, Jos Verstappen claimed the suspicion of ‘conflict of interest’ in the FIA, which it was believed the statement was referring to Herbert.
The former F1 driver steward was also part of the stewarding panel who had given Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso a drive-through penalty after the race which converted to 20 seconds on his race time, at the Australian Grand Prix, for potentially dangerous driving.
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
