One Of Mexico City Stewards Johny Herbert Suggests Penalties Won't Stop Verstappen

F1
Thursday, 31 October 2024 at 12:15
Updated at Friday, 01 November 2024 at 09:14
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Johny Herbert said he doesn't think that the penalties will stop Max Verstappen from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future.
Red Bull's F1 driver Max Verstappen received two ten-second penalties during the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix: One for pushing Lando Norris off the track and one for leaving the track and gaining an advantage (also in battle with Norris).
The Dutchman had to serve these two penalties during his pit stop, and that pushed him far down the order. Ultimately, he was able to recover to finish P6.
While the 20-second penalty seems like a harsh punishment to the Red Bull Racing team, Verstappen didn't seem too bothered when speaking to the media after the Grand Prix.
One of the stewards who decided to give the 27-year-old this penalty was Johny Herbert, and he is worried that these penalties won't stop the Red Bull Racing driver from pushing his F1 rival off the track again in the future. He told Action Network:
"Those penalties in Mexico won't stop Max Verstappen from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future."
Herbert believes that Verstappen made the move on Norris during the tenth lap into turn seven with the intention of helping Charles Leclerc get ahead (as it ultimately helps him in the Championship).
"The whole intention of Verstappen was to try to let Ferrari get the 1-2 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."