Jos Verstappen believes that the FIA urgently needs to establish a ‘pool’ of paid, full-time stewards. The father of Max Verstappen makes this statement in response to the discussions and all the uncertainty about the imposed time penalties at the recent GPs in the United States (Austin) and Mexico, among others, to Max Verstappen.
“It’s about clarity, consistency, and objectivity,” asserts Jos Verstappen. “You shouldn’t put former F1 drivers as stewards, but people who understand racing, know the rules, and importantly, who are more distant and have no personal interests.”
Jos Verstappen advocates for a fixed pool of professional stewards. “If you have the same people every time, you will also get the same decisions, which is simply better. The FIA needs to step up in terms of professionalism, and so far, they are significantly lacking in this area. In football, you have FIFA referees who receive training, courses, and are well paid. The same should naturally apply here.”
George Russell Also Advocates for Professional Stewards
Recently, Mercedes driver George Russell also indicated that Formula 1 needs full-time professional stewards. The Brit is one of the directors of the GPDA drivers’ union.
Max Verstappen recently received a twenty-second time penalty in Mexico. Subsequently, British FIA steward Johnny Herbert was highly critical of Verstappen, describing his racing mentality as ‘horrible’. In Mexico, Tim Mayer, son of McLaren founder Teddy Mayer, was also one of the other stewards. This was notable, as McLaren driver Lando Norris was still a serious rival of Verstappen in the World Championship battle at the time.
During the past race weekend in Brazil, the three-time world champion from Red Bull responded to all the commotion. He described Herbert’s comments as ‘quite abnormal’.
