'You can't blame anyone else' - Johnny Herbert defends FIA stewards after Lewis Hamilton penalties

Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert believes that Lewis Hamilton needs to "learn not to make mistakes" after a recent run of four penalties across three grands prix weekends.

Hamilton made a succession of errors ahead of the summer shutdown, taking penalties at Silverstone, Spa Francorchamps and the Hungaroring for a false start, causing a collision, impeding in qualifying, and speeding in the pit lane.

While the prevailing opinion of his clash with George Russell in Belgium was that the 10-second penalty awarded was harsh, the Mercedes driver himself described it as a "racing incident"; there can be little argument over the other moments.

However, Hamilton was especially aggrieved after his false start penalty at Silverstone, stating: "We talked in the drivers' briefing the fact that they're inconsistent with this stuff. Drivers in the past have moved and not been penalised. We discussed that, as long as you're not moving when the last lights are on, you shouldn't be penalised. I wasn't out of my box. And they agreed. So they're looking into that for the future."

Following his latest incident of pit lane speeding in Hungary, he added: "I'm going to try and make sure I don't give them any reason to penalise me."

But for Herbert, who previously served as an FIA steward, the matter is black and white. 

“You can’t say it was ‘just bad luck’," Herbert has been quoted as telling a gambling platform. "You can’t and mustn’t penalise a driver simply because you might not like him. That’s not how it works.

“The guidelines are there, plain and simple. There are four stewards in the room who work closely together. You can’t ignore the rules and guidelines, because that leads to all sorts of other problems. What’s more, it would rile the drivers.

“Consistency in handing out penalties is therefore crucial, and that is precisely what teams and drivers always strive for. In my opinion, the stewards are doing an excellent job.”

Hamilton went through a phase of picking up penalties when battling with Felipe Massa in 2011, but has historically managed to steer clear of the stewards throughout his career.

“The speeding offence was Hamilton’s fault, full stop. You can’t blame anyone else,” Herbert added.

“Would the Lewis of 10 years ago have done something like that? Probably not. I don’t know why he got his judgement so completely wrong. Ultimately, there are no excuses.

“It’s not as if the stewards have anything against Lewis. That’s not how it works. He simply has to learn not to make mistakes like this.”