F1 Today | Herbert on Verstappen's punishment and Schumacher slams Red Bull

FIA steward Johnny Herbert speaks on Max Verstappen's punishment:

Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert, now one of the FIA's stewards, has spoken out about the community service penalty Max Verstappen received for swearing during a press conference. Herbert was one of the stewards on duty during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and fully supported the punishment given to the Dutchman.  

"There is more swearing than there ever has been. A press conference is not the place for it. Some journalists have said the sport is trying to make robots out of the drivers. That’s not the case. You are just asking them not to swear, which I think is the right thing. Most drivers don’t swear," the former Sauber, Jordan and Stewart driver said in a discussion with CasinoHawks. Do you agree with the Brit? Let us know.

Ralf Schumacher slams Red Bull: 

Six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher argues that Red Bull's performance in Austin will say a lot about what their RB20 will be capable of for the rest of the season. The German also believes that the team will lose significant performance without Adrian Newey at the helm of the technical team.

"I think that maybe Pierre Waché is not up to the task. I think that maybe he can't do it as well as Adrian Newey could. He's kind of lacking between the relationship between the driver and the optimum of the car. I hope for Red Bull that they can work on everything, I feel like it's going to be a tough time for Red Bull," Schumacher said in conversation with Formel1.de.

Williams anticipating Mercedes 2026 power unit:

In other news, James Vowles and Williams are looking forward to the 2026 regulation change. Mercedes nailed the 2014 turbo-hybrid rule change, which helped 'The Silver Arrows' dominate F1 for a long period of time. Early signs suggest that their 2026 powertrain is promising. This is what Williams team boss James Vowles is hoping for, as his team will be using the Mercedes engine once again.

“I think Mercedes have done an exceptional job which is why I was very happy to re-sign back up for an extension to it,”  Vowles stated. “And I think you’re going to see differences in power units that don’t exist. Today, pretty much all power units are much of a muchness." Can Williams become a contender once again? Time will tell...

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