F1 News
F1 Today | A defence from Herbert, and Verstappen to have an engine penalty
F1 teams have been arriving and preparing for the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekened, and already, there will be a shake-up to the grid, as Max Verstappen will be forced to change engines, resulting in a five-place gird penalty. Along with this, Johnny Herbert has spoken since stewarding th Mexican Grand Prix which resulted in tow tn-second time penalties for Verstappen. As well as this, some changes have been made to the backroom staff at Toyota and Sauber.
Herbert defends "ridiculous" British bias claim
Former F1 driver and now FIA steward Johnny Herbert has spoken for the first time since the Mexican Grand Prix, with the Brit coming under a lot of scrutiny after he was a part of the stewarding team that gave Max Verstappen two ten-second time penalties for forcing Lando Norris off the track last weekend.
But, the Brit has defended the choices that he and the other stewards made, saying, "It’s the guidelines we followed, the teams agreed with our decisions. The right decision was made, the 20-second penalty for Max Verstappen was not harsh."
Herbert continued on to say that Verstappen's driving style that weekend was "harsh" and went into a "horrible mindset", but completely denied that there was any British bias in his decision-making: "There always seems to be an issue about us British stewards being ‘biased’, but when we’re in that room, we abide by the rules and guidelines from the FIA... To say there’s bias is ridiculous," Herbert concluded.
Verstappen already on the back foot in Brazil
After losing out in the drivers' championship last weekend in Mexico, Verstappen will now start on the back foot at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as Helmut Marko admits that Red Bull will have to change the Dutchman's engineer after having some issues with it last week.
In a column for Sky Sports DE, Marko said, "All this means we cannot avoid replacing the engine in Brazil, with a corresponding penalty," meaning Verstappen will now drop five places down the grid from wherever he qualifies, putting a huge amount of pressure on his qualifying performance in Sao Paulo.
Staffing changes at Sauber and Toyota
Today also brought news of changes to the management teams of both Sauber and Toyota. For Sauber, they announced a restructuring as part of its transition to Audi, which will be the new team name from 2026 onwards.
The biggest change to the Swiss team is that former Ferrari strategies Ignacio Rueda will join the team as sporting director. Beat Zehnder, who has worked for the team for decades, is appointed Director of Signature Programs and Operations, and Giampaolo Dall'Ara joins the team as Head of Race Engineering. In a statement, Sauber said: "Rueda brings a wealth of experience to the role In his new position. Rueda will be responsible for overseeing all sporting activities, managing the relationship with FIA and all regulations matters trackside."
At Toyota Gazoo Racing, barely weeks after announcing a partnership with Haas F1, they have announced they are saying goodbye to former managing director Rob Leupen. TGR released a statement on Leupen's departure, saying that it is part of a "renewal of its leadership structure."
The Dutchman will officially leave the team at the end of the year, but it has already been mutually agreed that Leupen will step down from his operational role with immediate effect.
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