Former Formula 1 steward Johnny Herbert has backed current FIA officials following Lewis Hamilton airing his frustration over recent penalties. He stated the Ferrari driver was solely to blame for his pit-lane speeding infraction at the Hungarian GP.
Hamilton voiced displeasure after receiving four penalties across three race weekends.
His latest sanction came at the Hungarian GP, where stewards handed him a five-second penalty for exceeding the 80 km/h pit-lane limit by just 0.1 km/h.
Hamilton released his pit-lane limiter a fraction too early during a VSC period.
The seven-time World Champion raised concerns about consistency during driver discussions with the FIA, revealing that officials admitted a false-start penalty at the British GP was issued in error.
Johnny Herbert dismisses Lewis Hamilton concerns
However, Herbert dismissed any notion of official bias and argued that Hamilton must take responsibility for operational mistakes.
“You can’t say it was ‘just bad luck’. You can’t and mustn’t penalise a driver simply because you might not like him. That’s not how it works,” Herbert said.
“The guidelines are there, plain and simple. There are four stewards in the room who work closely together. You can’t ignore the rules and guidelines, because that leads to all sorts of other problems. What’s more, it would rile the drivers.
“Consistency in handing out penalties is therefore crucial, and that is precisely what teams and drivers always strive for. In my opinion, the stewards are doing an excellent job.”
Herbert further suggested that a younger Hamilton would have avoided such an error.
“The speeding offence was Hamilton’s fault, full stop. You can’t blame anyone else,” Herbert added.
“Would the Lewis of 10 years ago have done something like that? Probably not. I don’t know why he got his judgement so completely wrong. Ultimately, there are no excuses.
“It’s not as if the stewards have anything against Lewis. That’s not how it works. He simply has to learn not to make mistakes like this.”
Herbert’s intervention highlights the continued scrutiny over the stewards and driving standards, with no winners in this lose-lose battle.
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