Johnny Herbert defends FIA stewards, says Hamilton must learn from mistakes

Former Formula 1 driver and ex-FIA steward Johnny Herbert has weighed in on Lewis Hamilton's recent spate of penalties, insisting the Mercedes driver has no one to blame but himself and needs to improve.

Hamilton endured a torrid run before the summer break, picking up four penalties across three race weekends: a false start at Silverstone, causing a collision at Spa, impeding in qualifying, and pit lane speeding in Hungary. While his clash with George Russell in Belgium was debated, the other three infringements were largely clear-cut.

Hamilton had been particularly aggrieved by the false start penalty, claiming the drivers' briefing had agreed on a different interpretation. But Herbert, who now works as a pundit, believes the rules are clear and the stewards are doing a fine job.

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“You can't say it was 'just bad luck',” Herbert told 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.”

Herbert added that consistency is crucial and that the stewards are performing excellently. “The speeding offence was Hamilton's fault, full stop. You can't blame anyone else,” he said.

Comparing Hamilton to his younger self, Herbert remarked: “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. He simply has to learn not to make mistakes like this.”

With the pressure mounting, can Hamilton bounce back in the second half of the season? Stay tuned to Sportrik for more F1 updates.