Johnny Herbert sends warning to Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton crash fears

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and his title rival Max Verstappen enter the finale tied on points but the Red Bull man will be crowned if neither driver finishes the race thanks to his victory tally.

As a result, Johnny Herbert believes we may see the young Dutchman drive even more aggressively than usual.

Verstappen’s driving style was, he says, fine earlier in the season.

‘Personally, I just saw it as hard racing, and I loved that about Max,’ says Herbert, who won three F1 races including the 1995 British Grand Prix. ‘What we’ve seen more recently is him forcing other drivers off the circuit and then saying he doesn’t understand why he got a penalty.

‘Throwing it down the inside and going off the circuit — that’s not a skill, anyone can do that. I look at that and I think that’s not the pure racer that Lewis has been his whole career. Max is overstepping the mark.’

Track limits have been a talking point all year, because the drivers have been allowed to go over the white lines at some corners and not others. It is inconsistent and it’s confusing, for everyone.

The drivers will always push the limits of what they can get away with.

‘You shouldn’t be allowed to race off the track anywhere,’ says Herbert, adding part of the problem is modern circuit design, with asphalt run-off areas.

‘Back in my day you couldn’t go over the kerbs or the white lines, because if you did you’d be on the grass or in the gravel. Now, you can make a mistake and get away with it. You shouldn’t have these get-out-of jail-free cards.’

Given Verstappen’s uncompromising form, there is a concern this wonderful season could be marred by the 24-year-old taking out his rival on Sunday and claiming the title that way.

‘I hope not,’ says Herbert, who was Michael Schumacher’s team-mate at Benetton. ‘You lose a lot of credibility doing that. Michael lost a bit of respect from my side, as a driver, when he won the title at Adelaide in 1994 after he hit the wall and then drove back across the track into Damon Hill.

‘That’s not how you should win a world championship. The man who deserved it was Damon.

‘Strangely, though, that and the time he tried to take Jacques Villeneuve out at the title decider in Jerez in 1997 didn’t really seem to harm Michael’s reputation with the fans. It maybe made him more popular. People love argy-bargy.’

Verstappen has appeared to hint he may be prepared to run Hamilton off the road again. Herbert adds: ‘Max has alluded to it, very interestingly, saying, “I have an advantage as I have more race wins”, and the only way it comes into play is if they both don’t finish.

‘I hope that’s not in his mindset but then we look at what he’s done on track [lately], it probably is going to be part of it. Lewis needs to find a way of beating him while keeping out of his way.’

Surely it would cause crisis for the sport if Verstappen did something so unsporting. F1’s managing director Ross Brawn has spoken of his hope the title rivals keep it clean.

However, Herbert is unhappy with some of the recent comments from Red Bull boss Christian Horner, insisting: ‘A lot of what he’s said publicly lately has been very harsh and disrespectful.

‘Saying about [race director] Michael Masi, “We miss Charlie Whiting” [his late predecessor]. I thought that was an awful thing to say. He’s gone too far on a number of occasions. I mean come on, grow up. That’s not what motorsport is about. He’s come across as a poor loser.

‘If Lewis wins, he’s won that eighth world championship, one more than Michael [Schumacher], and I never ever thought that would happen. I really hope it comes his way, because that would be an absolutely amazing end to one of the best seasons I can remember.’

■ Watch the season’s finale in Abu Dhabi live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday

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