FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has explained the reasons the motorsport governing body dismissed Johnny Herbert as a driver steward ahead of the new Formula 1 season.
Last week, Herbert was removed from his post, which he held for 15 years after the organisation concluded his role and additional media work were “incompatible.”
It was thought that Herbert, who raced in F1 between 1989 and 2000, was due to work as a steward at the opening round of the new season in Australia, but after being removed, he stated he was “grateful” to Ben Sulayem for the opportunity, admitting “tough decisions” have to be made.
Ben Sulayem, who has witnessed the exits of various high-ranking FIA officials, including stewards, over recent months, confirmed the reasons given are accurate.
“Johnny was a very good commissioner, but then there was a conflict of interest and he knows that,” he told Spanish publication Marca.
“You can’t be a journalist in a big company and express your point of view and then play the commissioner, who is a referee. You [might] say: ‘My best case scenario is that so-and-so wins.’
“And what if that driver you prefer has another driver in first or second place? How do you make your judgement?
“He understood [the decision] and he thanked the FIA [for the opportunity] and we thanked him for what he did.”
Ben Sulayem added that the FIA is in need of producing “new blood” for the stewards’ room, saying the pool of stewards from which to choose “should be wider.
“We should not be limited and that is why tomorrow with the stewards we will have new blood.
“It will give us a new selection that is going to sustain the business of motorsport.”
‘More than one’ Race Director for 2025 amid FIA professionalism drive
Ben Sulayem also intimated that more than one person will be F1’s Race Director for this season, saying: “Who and how many is a question we will know soon, in the next few days.
“But for sure there will be new blood and there will be more than one [race director]. That’s for sure.”
This comes after a tumultuous end to the 2024 campaign, which saw Niels Wittich dismissed a week prior to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and replaced by his Formula 2 counterpart Rui Marques.
Wittich initially took over alongside Eduardo Freitas in 2022, following the firing of Michael Masi after the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but held the position solo from 2023.
Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s single-seater director, has previously commented that the organisation will be “a more professional body,” after a new department for officials was set set-up, in the hope that the drivers, who have voiced concerns around the issue, will be placated.
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