The recent decision that Johnny Herbert will no longer serve as a F1 steward has reignited discussions about professionalism in stewarding — a topic Christian Horner, Zak Brown and Alex Wurz talked about with Sky Sports.
The move raises important questions about whether officials should be allowed to straddle both regulatory and media roles in Formula One.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner weighed in on the exit of Herbert
Herbert is known for his harsh opinions specifically on Verstappen in recent times. Horner denied the allegations of
the departure being related to the 4-time World Champion.
However, Horner did agree that letting the British steward go was a good call. Herbert’s media ties with betting sites was a conflict of interest and the main reason of the exit.
He strongly voiced his opinion on how “inappropriate” it is for stewards to be involved in media roles which does not happen in other sports.
“Well, firstly, absolutely nothing to do with Max, but absolutely the right decision. You cannot have stewards working in the media.
“You don’t have it in the premiership.You don’t have any other form of professional sport. It’s totally inappropriate.
“You’re either on the sporting regulatory side or you’re on the media side.You can’t have a foot in both camp. Bit of a discussion about stewarding and drivers being docked points maybe for something they say.”
The core problem: F1’s inconsistent stewarding system
Zak Brown pointed out the inconsistency in F1’s stewarding system. Unlike other major sports, F1 does not employ full-time officials. Instead, it relies on a rotating group of stewards doing it on a voluntary basis. That results in different penalties and unpredictable rulings.
As a result, the sport urgently needs a more structured and professional approach to ensure greater consistency.
“You know, we’re in a multi-billion dollar sport, a lot on the line. Stewarding is not easy. I think you need to have full time stewards need to be paid.
“So and I also think we need to look at the rule book. I think it’s a bit too prescriptive. And if you get some stewards in full-time, give them a little bit more leniency to kind of they know what’s right and wrong versus this race to the apex stuff, because it’s a bit too prescriptive.”
GDPA director Alex Wurz expressed his familiarity with Johnny Herbert, While unsure of the specifics behind the Brit’s departure, having raced each other in the late 90s and 2000. The Austrian suggested that it could have been mutually agreed upon, though he did not know the full details.
“I know Johnny well. I did have my incidents with him on track.Of course, he’s a very colourful character. He’s funny.
“He’s good, highly respected. And I don’t know the exact details. But if there is a clash, perhaps they agreed together, perhaps not. I don’t know those details.”
