Steward leaves the race with a plea at the US GP because of Verstappen's rant

FIA steward Johnny Herbert says he is confident that tensions between Max Verstappen and the FIA ​​will not be repeated at COTA.

Verstappen ran into tensions with the FIA ​​at the Singapore Grand Prix after using foul language during the official press conference on Thursday.

Johnny Herbert hopes “common sense will prevail”

Verstappen spoke during the press conference in Singapore about the handling of his Red Bull RB20 during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, revealing that he knew his car was “shitty” after a late setup change just before qualifying.

This led to presenter Tom Clarkson gently admonishing the reigning world champion about his language, who later spoke in more detail about his unhappiness at not being able to speak freely.

The FIA ​​later investigated Verstappen's language and decided to punish him by forcing him to do public interest work – the exact task has yet to be confirmed.

Verstappen was furious at the result and although he appeared at the remaining FIA press conferences as required for the rest of the weekend, he refrained from answering questions properly and instead held his own private media sessions for journalists in the paddock.

There was plenty of support for Verstappen among the drivers, including from title rival Lando Norris and former title rival Lewis Hamilton – the seven-time F1 world champion has expressed his displeasure with some of the current FIA regime's measures in the past.

Many pundits found the situation amusing as FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem's policies regarding the use of swear words came into focus – the president made an amendment to the International Sports Code to allow the punishment of participants by imposing a applied a very broad “any wrongdoing” rule. Earlier this year.

With tempers cooling over the break since Singapore, FIA Commissioner Johnny Herbert said he hoped neither side would upset the other at this weekend's United States Grand Prix and that if bad language was used, one I will not try to use clumsy means to rein in the competitor involved.

“I hope common sense prevails when Max swears at a press conference at the US Grand Prix,” he told CasinoHawks.

“There needs to be an understanding that both sides need to work together.

“I know that the FIA ​​President is unhappy with swear words. There is a consensus among drivers that it is wrong to swear at a press conference. It's simply something that grew out of the president's initial “rapper” comment, which some found offensive, when Max was hauled before the judges in Singapore.

“We subsequently had a meeting with the drivers where at least one, who I will not name, made it clear that he believed verbal abuse was unacceptable.

“There are a lot of young people in the world who love the sport and admire the drivers. Drivers need to understand that they are role models.

“We made the decision that there was a case to answer, if you will. It's up to Max and the FIA ​​to agree on what the sanction should be and what it will look like.

“That part is out of our control.”

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Herbert, who sat on the stewarding panel to hand Verstappen his punishment in Singapore, said he personally disagreed with the amount of abuse – although most of it occurs in the team's optional radio broadcasts and not in press conferences.

“The press conferences will be broadcast around the world,” Herbert continued.

“There is more swearing than ever before. A press conference is not the right place for this.

“Some journalists have said that the sport is trying to turn drivers into robots. That is not the case. They just ask her not to curse, which I think is the right thing to do. Most drivers don’t swear.”

Herbert met with Verstappen to discuss the uproar in Singapore and said it was clear the Dutch driver was genuinely outraged by what had happened to him in terms of off-track punishment.

“We had a good, open conversation with Max for about 20 minutes to half an hour in a difficult situation,” he said.

“You could see on his face that he was really excited about it.

“But when he left he seemed mollified by the process and why it exists. He didn't blame us as administrators.

“As stewards we have a range of tools at our disposal to penalize drivers. We are there to implement the rules and make a decision together.

“We could have fined him, but we thought it would be more beneficial to get him to do something socially responsible.” It's up to Max and the FIA ​​what that is.

“It all blew up after that because he went to the press conference, gave one-word answers and then had his own impromptu press conference out in the paddock.

“That showed Max's rebellious streak. I love this side of him, it's what makes Max Max, his honest and open character, but there is a time and a place.

“Personally, I think there is too much swearing. I don’t want my five-year-old grandchild to hear such language.”

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