Former FIA steward insists Max Vertappen should have got a Mexican GP penalty

Former F1 steward Johnny Herbert has hinted that he would have called to penalise Max Verstappen at the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend.

The Dutchman had a couple of off-track excursions on Sunday, including a notable one at Turn 1 on the first lap when he got on the outside of the two Ferraris and overshot the corner.

A number of cars went way wide at that first corner, but none were penalised – unlike Lewis Hamilton a few laps later, when he got too brave on the brakes into Turn 4 when trying to overtake the Dutchman.

Verstappen got away without punishment thanks in large part to the speed with which he gave the Ferraris their positions back, but Herbert has criticised the racing culture which allows drivers to treat the first corner as a free hit – with Verstappen suffering no adverse consequences for completely missing the corner.

Herbert: I don't agree with first corner attitude

Speaking to AdventureGamers, he said: “The biggest problem for me is that anything that tends to happen on the first corner, the first lap, they tend to turn a blind eye because the tyres are cold and they're not quite up to speed and if something happens, they won't apply a penalty.

"I don't agree with it. They're the very best in the world and as we saw in Mexico, did they all then take the mickey with that first lap? Probably yes, because they all could get away with it.

“When Max tried to go around the outside and was sort of running out of room, he got on the track without losing anything. Then we saw a Charles cut across and he didn't lose anything, he gained. He was level with Lewis, but he ended up being in front of Max. So he was second and he didn't get a penalty for it.

“If Lewis had just slowed up and let Max get right off his backside, I don't think he would have got a penalty. People were saying the 10 second penalty was too harsh. But ten second penalties should be across the board whenever it may be.

“Is that harsh in some circumstances? Yes. Was it harsh on Lewis? Yes. But you can’t say, ‘We’ll just give him a five second'. No, you can't do that. Drivers know that there is potentially going to be a penalty, but you have a look in your mirrors, you know you have come out with a gap which wasn't there when he went into that turn.”

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