Johnny Herbert’s FIA job reveal just weeks prior to role removal

Johnny Herbert has left his role as an F1 steward
Just weeks prior to his FIA exit, Johnny Herbert vehemently denied wanting a bigger role within the FIA amidst the “constant game of cat and mouse” they have to play with the teams.
Last week the FIA announced that Herbert would no longer serve as a F1 driver steward, dropped from the roster two months before he was expected to head to Australia for the season-opening Grand Prix.
Johnny Herbert: You can criticise the FIA, but it is a bloody hard job
Motorsport’s governing body said the two parties had “mutually agreed” that “his duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible”.
The decision came in the wake of last year’s allegations of bias levelled at Herbert after last year’s Mexican Grand Prix when he sat on the panel that handed Max Verstappen two 10-second time penalties as he clashed with his title rival Lando Norris on the track.
Herbert later went public with his thoughts on the Dutchman’s racing, saying: “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.”
Verstappen’s father and Herbert’s former rival, Jos Verstappen, hit back as he stated that F1 stewards should “not talk to the press at all and do a constant job”.
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The FIA’s decision brought an end to Herbert’s time on the panel, and it came just after the Briton spoke of the difficult task the FIA have keeping the teams and drivers in line.
“It is, otherwise it would be like the wild west,” he told plejmo.com. “There are a lot of former mechanics in the FIA now, who have started to learn how teams think and how they might exploit grey areas in the rules to gain an advantage – think flexi-wings, engine mapping.
“The FIA’s job, under Jo Bauer, is to monitor every element on the car and try then to see where the teams are looking to stretch things and work out how they are doing it and where it sits inside or outside the guidelines.
“It is a constant game of cat and mouse and always has been. Even when I was racing everyone was trying to bend the rules in a way that favoured them. That is what engineers do and that is what they should do, push the limits.
“The FIA now has so much data and access to it that they can look at every element on the car and analyse it and either punish them or give them a quiet nudge.
“You can criticise the FIA, but it is a bloody hard job. You are up against some of the smartest brains in the world in F1 engineers. You have to have people who can be across all that and be aware.”
The 60-year-old admitted expanding his role with the FIA was not something he aspired to.
“No!” he vehemently denied. “I am happy to pop in and out. I am happy to watch it from afar when I am not a steward.”
Herbert reiterated his belief that working for the FIA is a “difficult job”, doing so as he broke his silence in the days after his departure.
Putting out a statement on Instagram, he said: “I’m very grateful 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 there are tough decisions that 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 all F1 Grand Prix weekends.
“Finally, I’m very grateful to the President and everyone at the FIA for the opportunities I have been given.”
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