Former F1 driver and Sky Sports analyst received death threats after Australian GP

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Johnny Herbert said that he was the recipient of a "torrent of death threats" after the Australian Grand Prix. However, it has not put the 59-year-old off stewarding other F1 racing in the future.

Herbert was a part of the stewarding team for the Australian Grand Prix, where a collision between Fernando Alonso and George Russell, which resulted in Russell crashing heavily on the penultimate lap of the race, gave the Spaniard a time penalty after he was judged to have approached the turn differently with the Mercedes behind.

As a result of his heavy 20-second time penalty, which meant Alonso dropped from sixth to eighth, Herbert said he received "awful death threats" after being one of the stewards who came up with the decision.

"I was a steward at the Melbourne GP and the repercussions were awful. I got a torrent of death threats via social media. I am lucky I have got broad shoulders," said Herbert speaking to Fastest Payout Online Casino.

Herbert on 'pathetic' threats from Alonso fans

Herbert raced in Formula 1 for 11 years for seven teams and took three race victories during his F1 career. After retirement, he became a television pundit for Sky Sports F1 in the UK from 2012 to 2022, and now the Brit is involved in stewarding races for the FIA.

After receiving these threats online, Herbert branded these as "pathetic" and said he could not believe that he "was the one thrown under the bus."

"There were four stewards and we all discussed it. We have to make a decision with what is put in front of us and hear from both drivers, Alonso and Russell. We had already seen data and analysed it along with the teams’ own data. So we are very aware of what has happened before they come into the room."

Hebert also spoke about where most of these threats stemmed from and why they were directed towards him: "There were messages with dagger emojis at the bottom of the screen; people saying we know where you live, we will come for you.

"Most of them were Spanish. It goes back to Bahrain two years ago I think. Some years before when he was with McLaren, Alonso had been on the radio slagging off the engine almost every race saying it was like a GP2 engine. He was really vocal. I was working for Sky and said if Alonso didn’t like it he should leave the team. I didn’t say retire.

"He then came up to me live on air in Bahrain and had a dig at me saying he was a world champion and would not retire and become a commentator because you were not a world champion. The fans then used that as a weapon against me after Australia. People were saying that because I had never been a world champion I was not qualified to have a say in it."

However, Herbert concluded by saying that these trolls on social media have not changed his stance on stewarding in the future: "It has not put me off stewarding.  It’s all part and parcel of it, unfortunately. I was the drivers’ steward in Melbourne so when it is a driving steward he is the one who gets the hard time. I accept it. It is not an issue."