Verstappen’s ‘horrible’ act slammed as man who punished him floats F1 conspiracy theory

The man who penalised Max Verstappen for his tactics against Lando Norris as blasted the F1 champion’s “horrible mindset”.

One of the stewards who penalised Max Verstappen at the Mexican Grand Prix has criticised his “horrible mindset” amid concerns the Red Bull superstar is tarnishing his F1 legacy.

Verstappen is the hardest driver to overtake in F1 and after defending hard against Lando Norris at the US Grand Prix, he was determined to not let his rival past him in Mexico.

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Verstappen was given two 10-second time penalties for pushing Norris off the track twice in quick succession in a bid to keep the McLaren driver behind him.

The hefty penalties put Verstappen back in the pack but he rallied to finish sixth as Norris came second to trim the championship lead to 47 points with four races remaining.

The three-time world champion was furious at the time penalties and Red Bull boss Christian Horner even produced sketches of telemetry data to defend his driver.

But former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, who was one of four stewards who decided to penalise Verstappen in Mexico, believes the 20-second penalty “was not harsh”.

“Was Verstappen’s driving style on the edge or over the top? Yes, it was,” Herbert told Action Network.

“Verstappen’s driving style was harsh, especially when he’s taking a fellow driver off the track. It’s an absolute no-no from me, current drivers, former drivers and stewards.

Max Verstappen’s defensive tactics have come under criticism. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

“I am such a big fan of Verstappen and it frustrates me massively when he drives the way he did in Mexico. He doesn’t need to do it, he’s so good in the cockpit and at this point in the Championship, he just needs to stay out of trouble and drive as well as possible.

Herbert believes Verstappen intentionally pushed Norris wide so Charles Leclerc could move into second place and limit the points Norris could gain on him — a Leclerc error late in the race meant Norris was second.

“When Verstappen goes into this horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow driver off the racetrack so Ferrari can get the one-two, that where Verstappen needs to know he doesn’t have to do that,” Herbert said.

“Just win in the cleanest possible way you can.

“The whole intention of Verstappen was to try to let Ferrari get the one-two finish. I think that’s definitely what Verstappen intended and tried to achieve, I understand why he did it but I don’t agree with it, I don’t think many people do. Fair racing is something Norris has mentioned before, and that’s the type of fight he wants to have.

“I don’t see Verstappen’s driving changing because the number one goal is to stop Norris from closing the gap for the drivers championship.

“We potentially still have a lot of interesting racing coming our way.”

Was Verstappen trying to orchestrate a Ferrari 1-2 in Mexico? (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Herbert bristled at suggestions he was biased towards Norris as a fellow Brit.

“There always seems to be an issue about us British stewards being biased, but when we’re in that room, we abide by the rules and guidelines from the FIA,” the three-time race winner said.

“That is how we have to judge the racing on the track.

“To say it’s biased is absolutely ridiculous and not the case. We try as hard as possible to be fair in our judgement.

“The issue we have is the tactics we see on the track, there are driving styles that are not deemed correct according to the guidelines, and the situation we had in Mexico showed that we made the right decision.

“In Mexico, the stewards other than me were American, Belgian and Brazilian, all who have the same powers as each other. To say there’s bias is ridiculous.

“When we applied the two ten-second penalties to Max Verstappen, we were all in agreement. Always remember, there are four stewards who make these decisions.”

Verstappen is inching closer to a fourth world title. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Herbert said Red Bull needed to accept the ruling and move on.

“All the teams whinge, it’s something that happens every race,” he said.

“All teams are constantly seeking a competitive advantage they can have over their teammates. We hear complaints from Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, everyone!

“They try and manipulate what the stewards are thinking, but that’s a part of modern-day F1 racing. Do we listen to the complaints? Not really, there is no influence from the teams.

“Those penalties in Mexico won’t stop Max Verstappen from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future.”

Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert weren’t impressed with Verstappen.. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images for Fox Sports)

In his Sky Sports column, commentator Martin Brundle said Verstappen’s tactics risk tarnish his legacy.

“He’s a multiple world champion, has more driving talent in his little finger than most of us ever had, but his legacy will be tainted by this sporting attitude and that’s a shame,” Brundle wrote.

A Verstappen DNF is the only thing standing between Verstappen and his fourth consecutive F1 title, with races in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to come.

“Can Lando Norris catch Max Verstappen in the Drivers Championship? It’s going to be a tough one,” Herbert said.

“McLaren have the fastest car but we’ve seen a resurgence from Ferrari. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have done very well in recent weeks.

“Was Norris fastest in Mexico? Yes, probably, but as we know in racing, it’s not as simple who is the fastest and we saw that with Norris’ battle with Verstappen.

“Norris will need Verstappen to not finish one of the remaining races with a mechanical problem, it’s going to be very hard for Norris to catch up.”

The F1 season continues this weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The race is scheduled for Monday at 4am (AEDT).

Originally published as Verstappen’s ‘horrible’ act slammed as man who punished him floats F1 conspiracy theory