Ex-F1 steward backs Nico Rosberg over Max Verstappen disqualification call

Former F1 steward Johnny Herbert agrees with Nico Rosberg that Max Verstappen should have been black-flagged after his incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen collided with Russell at Turn 5 on Lap 61 of the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

A frustrated Verstappen collided with Russell deliberately after he was annoyed that he was told to lift off and give the position back to the British driver.

This was because of their battle at Turn 1 following the Safety Car restart.

Russell went for an optimistic move into the first corner, pushing Verstappen wide as a result.

Red Bull incorrectly ordered Verstappen to move over to let Russell past, leading to the controversial incident.

Rosberg, who was commentating for Sky Sports at the time, called for Verstappen to be disqualified.

He said: “Wow, that’s bad, bad, bad. That is seriously bad. He just rams him, full on.

“You need to black flag that, there is no other way. Max was in the right - at first. The team went against Max and caused him to boil over.”

Herbert was an FIA steward up until the end of last year but was dismissed ahead of the 2025 season due to his media commitments.

Speaking to RoobetAlternatives, Herbert weighed in on the controversy in Barcelona.

“Yes, I totally agree with Nico Rosberg, Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified,” he said. “There's a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents. Verstappen is the best driver on the track, with the best racecraft and judgement, but there is always a story with him.

“It's usually some kind of racing incident we all end up talking about with Verstappen, unfortunately. It was clear as day that Verstappen's move on George Russell was on purpose. He backed out at the right corner, where he could then attack and retake the place by driving into Russell. To me, that's overstepping the mark.”

Why Verstappen should have been black-flagged

Verstappen was ultimately handed a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to 10th.

Herbert thinks that giving him just a time penalty puts it on the same level of severity as any other incident.

“A black flag is something that could have been thought of by the stewards and the race director, you have to stop this wheel-banging type of racing,” Herbert added.

“Anyone can go and crash into another car, it's totally wrong to purposely bang into a fellow driver. It's happened historically, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, with Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill, and with Jacques Villeneuve too. In the 1997 incident, Schumacher was banned for the season.

“For me, I'd like to think I was a hard and clean racer, and Verstappen can be that too, that collision overstepped the mark. I don't want to see it, nor do the drivers. That type of racing should not happen, if it does happen, the penalty should be harsher to stamp it out. It can't just be a 10-second penalty, otherwise you're treating it like any other racing incident.”