Max Verstappen's father at odds with Johnny Herbert again in his latest veiled attack on the FIA steward

Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen, has once again made FIA steward Johnny Herbert the target of his comments while talking to the media, this time referring to "stewards talking to the press." The back-and-forth between the Verstappen family and Herbert has intensified after the Dutch driver was handed two 10-second penalties in Mexico.

Before the race in Mexico, Max Verstappen had made remarks about having the "wrong passport" for F1, alluding to his opinion that he's the target of biased reportage amid his fight against a British driver in the championship. With the penalty in Mexico, the Red Bull driver doubled down on these claims after the race was over.

This was followed by Jos Verstappen's comments in the media as he claimed that the FIA needs to look at who is officiating in the Stewards' room and whether there is a conflict of interest there, alluding to the presence of Johnny Herbert and Tim Mayer in the panel. However, Johnny Herbert rubbished all such suggestions, ridiculing the idea of "British bias."

With Max Verstappen getting another 5-second penalty for a VSC infringement in Brazil, Jos Verstappen has again questioned the stewarding decisions, with his target once again being Herbert. Verstappen Sr. wondered if the stewards should be talking to the media while they're also working with the FIA. He said (via Viaplay),

“I thought Max went too far the second time in Mexico as well. I think he feels the same now. I can also just say that honestly to him. I think you have to be open and honest. I think a steward should not talk to the press at all and do a constant job. And that is definitely not the case now.”

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What Max Verstappen's father said about the level of stewarding after the Mexican GP

Max Verstappen's father was not impressed by the penalty given to his son after the race in Mexico. There were two incidents that the Red Bull driver had been involved in. According to Jos, his son was over the line in the second incident but it was the second incident where he felt the penalty was a bit harsh.

He did, however, hint that the presence of two stewards who didn't like Max was playing a role. He said,

“If you look at Sunday’s actions, Max’s second moment may have been a bit too much, but he is letting this get over him. You can start talking about it for a very long time, but it makes no difference anyway. Max has to drive the way he wants."

He added,

“He has to do this because the car is not good enough and he is doing everything he can to win the title. But Max is not going to change his driving style because there were a couple of stewards present now who don’t like him anyway."

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has now accumulated 7 F1 penalty points. He would be keeping an eye on that, especially since he gets closer to the threshold of 12 which would trigger a one-race ban.