‘Death to Herbert’ – Former FIA steward lifts lid on abuse after Max Verstappen comments
Max Verstappen in a press conference at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix
Former Sky F1 pundit Johnny Herbert has hit back at Dutch fans who accuse British F1 commentators of bias towards the likes of Lewis Hamilton.
Three-time grand prix winner Herbert was dropped as a Formula 1 steward ahead of the F1 2025 season having criticised Verstappen in the media.
Johnny Herbert responds to Dutch fans over F1 bias
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Serving as an FIA steward since 2010, Herbert found himself in the crosshairs at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix after he played a part in Verstappen receiving a 20-second penalty.
The Briton later publicly criticised Verstappen in an interview with a gambling website, calling his approach “harsh” and driven by a “horrible mindset.”
As he became one of the headlines in a fraught title fight between Verstappen and Lando Norris, the accusations of bias towards Norris, a British racer, grew more vocal. As did the insults.
Herbert was informed of his dismissal as an FIA steward just days before the F1 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with the FIA citing his work as a media analyst as being “incompatible” with the role.
He insisted that the claims of bias that “the Verstappens [Max and Jos] keep intimating” was “absolutely ridiculous.”
Herbert found himself the target of online abuse that he says was mainly fired at him from Dutch fans.
That, he reckons, is ironic as they’ve called him out for bias only to be partisan themselves.
Asked which fanbase he had received the most abuse from, Herbert told a gambling platform: “That’s easy! The Dutch fans who took issue with me questioning Max Verstappen.
“Actually, they weren’t just Dutch. They were from other countries as well: ‘Death to Herbert.’
“They were the worst. They accuse me of being biased.
“They still do to Martin Brundle.
“They say, ‘You’re biased to Lewis Hamilton.’ Well, we are British – and Lewis is a Brit.
“You’re Dutch and you support Max and you’re saying we’re biased, but you want us to support Max.
“They can’t have it both ways.
“Of course we are going to support a British driver, but it’s objective.
“We are wowed by the Flying Dutchman too. If England were playing Holland in football, of course I’m going to support England.”
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It’s not the first time that Herbert has delved into suggestions of bias, not only from himself but Sky F1 as a whole.
Speaking weeks after his axing as an FIA steward, he said: “Sky have been getting it as well, but they’re a goddamn British broadcaster!
“So, you’re going to favour your own British drivers.
“What happens for instance when the football World Cup happens? Will you support your team? Yes, absolutely.
“I don’t see any difference from that point of view.”
Brundle, though, has previously stated that he doesn’t believe Sky F1’s coverage is biased towards the British racers.
“I don’t think we do,” he said on a Sky podcast in 2024. “When I watch the Olympics or the World Cup or the European Cup, obviously, your commentators are fervently pro whichever country they’re from.
“I don’t think we do that. I like to think we’re pretty balanced. I really do.
“And actually, we get flak from pretty much everybody, because what I have learned in these 27, 28 years is that you can say 1,000 positive things about somebody and one negative will get back to them and their fans get onto it, or their family and friends tell them.
“And I get a few cool, sideways glances sometimes. Nobody ever comes up to you and says, ‘Thank you very much for what you said about us.’”
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