Johnny Herbert breaks silence after FIA announces his release from the F1 stewardship

Johnny Herbert has reacted to being released from the role of F1 driver steward by the FIA and expressed gratitude for being given the opportunity. The former race winner has been a steward for some time, but his role came into the spotlight last season.

In the F1 Mexican GP, Max Verstappen had two incidents with Lando Norris. For both incidents, Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty each. After this, Herbert came out in the media, claiming he was the steward who gave Max the penalty and then explaining why he did.

This was followed by Jos Verstappen questioning if the FIA needed to vet the stewards' panel and see if there was any conflict of interest for the stewards who were a part of the panel. Early in 2025, there was social media outrage as Johnny Herbert gave an interview, where he said that Lewis Hamilton winning the title would be the perfect scenario.

With Johnny Herbert scheduled to be a steward at the first F1 race of the season, there was a lot of backlash with the punditry and the stewarding being a conflict of interest. As a result, the FIA released a statement saying that the former driver would no longer be an FIA steward.

Reacting to the statement, Herbert posted on his social media, thanking the governing body for the opportunity. He said:

"I'm very graeful for the opportunity of being an FIA driver steward and I have thoroughly enjoyed the role I have been involved in over the years. It is a difficult job and tough decisions have to be made. As stewards, we have and will continue to treat both drivers and team personnel with the utmost respect and remain impartial at all times during the F1 Grand Prix weekend. Finally, I am grateful to the president and everyone at the FIA for the opportunities I have been given."

FIA releases statement on Johnny Herbert being released as the F1 driver steward

The FIA released a statement earlier claiming that the former driver's roles as media pundit and F1 driver steward were not compatible. The driver has also been associated with a gambling platform, where he has been interviewed over the season about what's going on in the sport, leading to a conflict of interest.

The statement read:

"It is with regret that we announce today that Johnny Herbert will not longer fulfill the position of F1 driver steward for the FIA. Johnny is widely respected and brought invaluable experience 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 for his future endeavours."

Earlier in 2022, Johnny Herbert also parted ways from Sky Sports after being part of the broadcast team for 11 years.