Derek Warwick suspended from stewarding over ‘unauthorised' Max Verstappen comments

Telegraph

12 hours ago

Derek Warwick, the former Formula One driver, has been suspended from his role as a steward at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after making 'unauthorised media comments' about Max Verstappen.
The development has revived the debate around the extent to which driver stewards should be allowed to give comment and opinion outside of their FIA roles, and whether that constitutes a potential conflict of interest.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle leapt to the defence of his friend and former rival on Friday night, describing Warwick, 70, as a 'salt of the earth genuine guy' and saying he would defend him 'until my last breath'.
Six months ago, another British ex-Formula One driver, Johnny Herbert, was sacked as a steward by motorsport's governing body the FIA for exactly the same reason.
Both Herbert and Warwick had taken on sponsored work offering opinion to gambling websites outside of their unpaid FIA roles as 'driver' stewards. An ex-F1 driver is always one of the four stewards officiating at every grand prix.
Herbert had been the driver steward on the panel that presided over last year's Mexico Grand Prix where Verstappen was given two 10-second penalties for two incidents with McLaren's Lando Norris. The Englishman was accused of 'bias' and of a 'conflict of interest' by both Verstappen and his father Jos after criticising Verstappen's driving in that race.
Herbert later complained about the FIA's heavy-handedness, saying not only had his work been agreed but describing it as 'ridiculous' that he could not support British drivers as an ex-British driver himself, and arguing that did not necessarily mean he was biased.
'I keep reading about the supposed bias. I read that and then wonder, 'so I can't support a British driver because I'm British?' I can't support Lewis or George or Lando. It's ridiculous.'
Damon Hill told Telegraph Sport earlier this year that he could see it from both sides. 'I mean, as an FIA steward, you really can't go around saying 'I would love to see Lewis Hamilton win a title' or what have you,' Hill said. 'I don't think that helps. But he [Herbert] has got to earn a living. They don't pay him to be a steward. You know, you do get business-class travel, and you get a nice hotel. But it's hard work. You're there from dawn to dusk, travelling the world and stuff, and you've got some fairly important decisions to make.'
Warwick, who has only been handed a one-race ban, had given an interview following the last race in Spain in which he said it was 'right' that Verstappen had been handed a 10-second penalty and 3 penalty points on his licence following a controversial collision with George Russell late in the race.
Warwick had not been on the stewards panel at that race.
'Should [Verstappen] have done what he did with George Russell in Turn 5? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for it? Yes,' Warwick said. 'Some people argue that Sebastian Vettel received a 10-second drive-through penalty in Baku [in 2017] when he deliberately drove into Lewis Hamilton. But if you look at the video of Max, it looks to me like he dived in but then turned away from George – the momentum just carried him into him.'
Warwick continued: 'I'm not condoning it, I'm not saying it was right. It was absolutely wrong. The FIA rightly gave him a penalty. Should it have been harsher? I actually think they got it about right.
'Many would say he should have received a race ban as a deterrent for young karting drivers, and they're probably right.'
The FIA said in a statement on Friday that the Warwick decision had been made 'following recent unauthorised media comments'.
It added that Warwick would be replaced by Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, who would be 'officiating from the remote operations centre in Geneva for the remainder of the event'.
The FIA statement read: 'After discussion, Derek acknowledges that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward and has apologised. Derek will resume his duties as a steward in the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix.'
Warwick, a former president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, made 146 grands prix starts for teams including Brabham, Arrows and Lotus in the 1980s and 1990s and also won the World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Brundle later wrote on X: 'Derek Warwick is one of the most genuine and passionate people and racers I have ever known.
'He is a salt of the earth genuine guy. He's done so much for young racers and motorsport in general. Not least as an FIA Steward.
'He has my absolute support and friendship until my last breath.'