A HIGH-PROFILE steward has been axed for the Canadian Grand Prix after making unauthorised media comments.
It is understood that Derek Warwick made controversial comments about Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s penalty in Barcelona to gambling website Plejmo.
Formula One steward Derek Warwick has been suspended from the Canadian Grand Prix
Warwick was deemed to have made “recent unauthorised media comments”
Verstappen was slapped with three points on his license as well as a 10-second time penalty for deliberately crashing into George Russell in Barca last time out.
Warwick, 70, is one of the most senior driver stewards in F1 and also competed in the sport from 1981 to 1993 as well as winning the Le Mans 24 hours.
He said to the website: “Should it have been harsher? I think they got it about right, actually,
“I think a lot of people would say he should have got a ban as an example to young karters, and they are probably right, but I feel the penalty was spot on.
“You’ve got to look at each individual incident on their own merit. I thought it was very questionable. It’s not what I like to see.”
According to the FIA, Enrique Bernoldi, a former F1 driver from the early 2000s, will replace him and officiate “from the Remote Operations Centre in Geneva”.
Warwick hinted seven-time world champion Hamilton may already be considering walking away from Ferrari after struggling to get to grips with life in the Italian team.
The FIA did not specify which comments had prompted the suspension, but Hamilton hit back at suggestions he would walk away from Ferrari on Thursday’s media day ahead of this weekend’s race.
He said: “There’s zero doubts, so please stop making stuff up.”
The FIA added in its statement, “After discussion, Derek acknowledges that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward and has apologised. Derek will resume his duties as a steward in the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix.”
Warwick is the second driver steward to be given a ticking off by the FIA for making comments to the media in the last six months.
In January Johnny Herbert was dropped by the FIA, as his “duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible”.
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