Last Updated on June 10 2025, 12:05 pm

If a week is said to be a long time in politics, it can be a lifetime in Formula One.  Now ten days on from the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix as the teams are in transit to Canada, the debacle which took place at the Circuit de Catalunya is still a hot topic of discussion in the paddock.

Red Bull Racing took a brave gamble at the start of the race, putting Max on an almost unheard of three stop strategy at the Montmelo circuit. Even the McLaren team boss suggested he was nervous, as the world champion on his final planned set of tyres was closing in on Lando Norris in second place.

Then came the safety car following Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes catching fire and Red Bull had no decent fresh race tyres for this late in the race intervention. At the restart, Verstappen could not fire up his tyres and was overtaken by Charles Leclerc, then an audacious move from George Russell forced Verstappen to take to the exit road at turn one.

 

 

 

Ex-Steward Herbert has his say

With no advice from the stewards, Red Bull decided to tell their driver to give the place back as a precaution, knowing a ten second penalty this late in the race would see Verstappen plunge down the final classified standings. An irritated Max made a clumsy effort at allowing Russell through before making contact with the Mercedes at turn five which forced the stewards to hand down the feared ten second penalty anyway.

Even more irritating for Max was the fact the stewards later exonerated him for leaving the track and retaining an advantage as Red Bull feared, but also refused to rule on whether George Russell had forced another driver off track, which he did. The anti-Verstappen British media rallied to calls from the likes of Nico Rosberg, who commentating at the time of the incidents said the stewards should have blacked flagged the world champion – thus disqualifying him from the final race result.

As was expected the ex-FIA race stewards Johnny Herbert would continue to his vendetta against the Dutch driver, telling RoobetAlternatives: “Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified. There’s a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents.”

Yet of course Herbert was excused from his duties as an FIA approved race steward last year, when his work as a pundit clashed with his duties as a steward. The ex-F1 driver described Verstappen’s mindset in the USGP as “horrible” despite his role as a steward meaning he should publicly be seen as neutral.

Horner says F1 “regulation a joke”

 

 

 

Warwick defends ‘no black flag’

Now Derrick Warwick, senior member of the FIA and regular driver steward across the F1 annual schedule, has given his thoughts on Verstappen and his race in Barcelona – although at the time Warwick was not on duty as an FIA steward. In addition to his time penalty Verstappen received three penalty points on his F1 drivers’ license leaving him in jeopardy and within three points of a ban right up to the Mexican Grand Prix later this year.

Whilst Warwick begins defending his fellow stewards for not bending to calls from the likes of Rosberg to issue the black flag during the race, but suggests a ban would have been appropriate of only to send a message to “kids karting”, although he doesn’t make clear which statute the stewards should have used to deliver this verdict.

“I think everyone has to realise that if you are a driver who is used to winning like Max, it is very difficult when things go against you in a race that on paper, with three stops, looks like you could win,” he tells Plejmo. “And we all know he’s a winner. Should he have done what he did, in Turn 5 with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for that? Yes.”

Warwick recalls an incident with Sebastian Vettel in Baku, 2017, where the Ferrari driver behind Lewis Hamilton at a safety car restart, drove into the back of Hamilton. Vettel claimed his rival was driving in an inordinately slow fashion, but received a ten second stop and go penalty. This was debated in the paddock post the chequered flag in Spain, as a number of punters argued the similarity between the offences. 

McLaren flexi-wing evades new FIA tests

 

 

 

Warwick says a ban for Verstappen “probably right”

Yet Warwick appears to let Verstappen off the hook for any intent in his collision with Russell, stating the difference being that Vettel “deliberately drove into Lewis.” The implication is clear, Verstappen’s case is at least less obviously an intentional move than that of Vettel in Baku.

Warwick in fact defends the world champion for his actions in Spain last time out stating: “Whereas if you watch this video, it seems to me that although he dove in, he then did turn away from George, but momentum pushed him against George. It is absolutely wrong and the FIA was right to give him a penalty.”

Warwick then went on to agree that a call for Verstappen to be banned was potential the way the stewards should have gone. “I think many people would say he should have been given a suspension as an example to young karters, and they are probably right, but I think the penalty was perfect. You have to look at each incident individually. This is not what I like to see.”

Clearly the penalty cannot have been perfect as it stands, if the opinion that Max should have been ‘suspended’ was also “probably right.” No matter and whilst the difference here is that Warwick was not on duty for the Spanish Grand Prix – as Herbert was in Mexico – is it right that part time and honorary stewards should be paid by a gambling company again to express their opinions?

Newey drops Verstappen bombshell

 

 

 

FIA refuse to pay full time stewards

This will undoubtably raise the topic of full time F1 stewards once again. Its ridiculous that the world’s most watched annual sporting series, a multi-billion dollar global enterprise, continues to employ part time referees, paying them expenses only when they are on duty.

Last season this extra-ordinary state of affairs was put to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who accepted F1 was now at a point where full time stewards should be employed. “It’s very nice talk,” Ben Sulayem said in an interview with Autosport. “But when they say professional, and they want professional, they don’t want to pay for it. That is so obvious.”

Ben Sulayem derided the vasts amounts of money the drivers’ receive along with FOM and the commercial rights holders, suggesting it was to them the questions should be directed and it was them who should pay for full time stewards.

Yet in reality the rotating system of part time stewards drawn from the various FIA associations is used as a grace and favour privilege, granted by the president of the FIA. This of course helps when it comes to garnering support for re-election.

 

 

 

Stroll retirement? Aston Martin driver update suggests..

Is Stroll’s home race back on track? Latest update suggests no driver change at Aston Martin – Despite ongoing uncertainty following his sudden withdrawal from the Spanish Grand Prix, Lance Stroll looks increasingly likely to compete in his home Grand Prix in Montreal. Recent comments from reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne at Le Mans suggest that Aston Martin is preparing to field its usual line-up in Canada, quelling speculation about a possible substitution.

After leaving the race early in Barcelona, Aston Martin confirmed that Stroll had undergone hand surgery just days after the race weekend. However, the team provided no details about the severity of the injury, how the procedure went or whether the 26-year-old Canadian would be fit in time for the next championship round. This sparked speculation that the team might need to call on a reserve — most likely Vandoorne — to step in.

But at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Vandoorne appeared to dismiss that possibility. The Belgian, who remains on standby for Aston Martin, stated that he had not had any conversations with the team about racing in Montreal…. READ MORE