Why Warwick has been suspended as FIA steward for F1 Canadian GP

The FIA has suspended Derek Warwick from FIA driver steward duties on the eve of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix for an interview he gave after the penalty given to Max Verstappen in Spain.

Warwick, a former F1 driver who made 146 grand prix starts for teams including Brabham, Arrows and Lotus, was relieved of his duties as an FIA driver steward for the Canadian GP on Friday night with immediate effect.

“Following recent unauthorised media comments, the FIA has taken the decision to suspend Derek Warwick from his duties as driver steward for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. He will be replaced by Enrique Bernoldi, who will officiate the remainder of the event from the Remote Operations Centre in Geneva,” the governing body stated.

The reason for the suspension is down to Warwick giving an interview after the Spanish GP, as he commented on Verstappen’s clash with George Russell, where the Red Bull driver was given a 10-second penalty and three penalty points – putting him on the edge of a race ban.

Warwick made specific remarks about the verdict – of which he was not a part of as the FIA stewards panel was made up of David Domingo, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Matthew Selley and Nish Shetty in Barcelona.

“Should he have done what he did with George Russell in Turn 5? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for it? Yes,” Warwick said.

“Some people argue that Sebastian Vettel received a 10-second drive-through penalty in Baku [in 2017] when he deliberately drove into Lewis Hamilton. But if you look at the video of Max, it looks to me like he dived in but then turned away from George – the momentum just carried him into him.”

Warwick continued: “I’m not condoning it, I’m not saying it was right. It was absolutely wrong. The FIA rightly gave him a penalty. Should it have been harsher? I actually think they got it about right.

“Many would say he should have received a race ban as a deterrent for young karting drivers, and they’re probably right.”

The interview creates two key issues which is why the FIA has acted to suspend Warwick.

Firstly, Warwick, as an FIA steward, publicly commented on the judgment of other stewards which is problematic given it is one steward publicly critiquing the ruling of another steward and that is not in the FIA’s interest.

Secondly, the interview wasn’t published by a traditional media outlet, but by a PR agency, which contacts media outlets offering quotes from Warwick – on the condition that the source Plejmo, a gambling website, be credited in exchange for using the quotes.

Behind this lies a calculated business model: instead of spending large sums on advertising with media outlets, casino and betting platforms hire PR agencies to conduct interviews with well-known F1 personalities.

These agencies then distribute the interviews and request that if the content is published, the outlet must cite a source – in this case Plejmo – where no actual Warwick interview can be found.

Johnny Herbert, former driver and FIA steward, arrives at the track

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Media outlets are also often asked to hyperlink to the external sites, which is where the real value lies, as backlinks from established news websites send valuable SEO signals to Google – increasing traffic and visibility for the gambling platforms.

The interviewees are usually paid for participating in this model. According to information obtained by Autosport sister site Motorsport-Total.com, these deals can pay interviewees up to €30,000 per year.

Warwick is not the first steward to be embroiled in this situation. Earlier this year, the FIA ended its collaboration with Johnny Herbert after he repeatedly participated in similar interviews, even though Herbert later claimed he had obtained prior approval for the role.

According to the FIA’s statement, Warwick has since acknowledged “that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward” and has “apologised”. He will resume his duties at the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix.

Warwick is one of the FIA’s most experienced driver stewards, having been in the role for 15 years. His first race of the 2025 season was Miami, and after Canada he is scheduled to also be a driver steward for Austria, Hungary, Italy, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

As of Friday evening in Montreal, that schedule remains unchanged and the suspension only applies to the Canadian round.