Johnny Herbert: F1 Could Lose Verstappen If Drivers Aren't Listened To

The powers that be should start to listen to the drivers. It has got to a point where the technology and the complications that it brings just don't work. For the drivers, it was a bit embarrassing what happened when some of them came to a halt, Lewis being one of those. Max has already mentioned Mario Kart, and Lewis talked about the Lego race, which actually was more reliable and quicker because they didn't come to a grinding halt!

I think the drivers probably need to drive this forward. It's a bit like Madrid - we go to Madrid, and from what I can understand, the drivers weren't asked about the track. Those are the things the drivers should be involved with because they put all the investment in it. Of course, it was a bit of a damp squib race. If the drivers had been involved, it probably would have been a very, very different story.

This scenario we find ourselves in is not good. From an ex-driver's point of view, the cars don't allow the driver to be the driver. I totally agree with every single driver on the grid at the moment.

It's time for change and a rethink of where we need to go next. There's talk about going with less battery - maybe 15-20 per cent - alongside an internal combustion engine (ICE) with a turbo. I would even get rid of the turbo. Just go to a normal combustion engine, a V8. I know the FIA President [Mohammed Ben Sulayem] has pushed for that a couple of times, and I think that would be something the drivers would love to drive.

At the end of the day, with all this very clever technology, there is one element that is not really taken into consideration: the driver. That is where it is wrong. The one thing they've got that works very well are the cars themselves - they can race closer together than they have done for quite a few years, so the drivers are quite happy with that. But it's the rest of the technology bolted onto the back of it, or scattered around them with the electrification, which needs to be scrapped.

Unless there have been safety issues brought up, no.

The drivers have just not been listened to. I still remember Max coming out when he first went on the simulator with these hybrid cars, saying they were going to have to change down gears on the straights. Have they fixed that? They've put a little plaster on it, but it still hasn't fixed the fundamental problem: the cars are still having to harvest and slow up down the straights. Think about the drivers for a change. Think about what they will excel at and what will give the 'wow' factor for the fans that watch.

One problem we had in Malaysia was the wet weather, and the software had to bring the power down from 1,000 horsepower to 800 horsepower. In my day, we had a wet map that we were able to choose to tune how we drove in the wet. With the electrification side, there's a big spin-up of the rear wheels, which is not the right thing for the drivers.

Why have we gone down this route? Because the powers that be think it's the right thing to do with the technology and the electrification side. Has it created the right form of racing? Absolutely not. Have the drivers been listened to? Absolutely not, and they damn well should be.

That's right [the drivers are being ignored]. And again, it goes back to a couple of years ago with Max. When he first went on the simulator, he basically laughed because he thought it was going to be downright awful. What do we keep hearing from Max? He keeps talking about looking elsewhere. Thankfully he keeps extending his contract, but he's making a point. This is very wrong. This is not what racing should be about.

When I first came into Formula 1, I thought it should be the most brutal, most difficult, physical, and mental formula out there. It has those ingredients, except that the technology takes away the driver's ability to show us the 'wow' factor. Max did it in Malaysia, and yes, there are a few upgrades that benefited him, but the fundamentals of the electrification and the combustion engine mix are still not right.

Max is still very disappointed that he doesn't have a car that is alive and does what he wants. He isn't the one who controls it – that's the fundamental problem. They don't have autonomy over the electronics. I hope the drivers continue this battle to get everybody else to realize that this is totally and utterly the wrong direction.

In crisis? No. I think the core of the racing itself still works. The drivers aren't happy with how the deployment of power comes from the electrification side – they still have to push the cars, but sometimes they can't because the battery is slowed up. The computer says no, as it did in Malaysia.

The fundamentals of the championship are okay. It just needs a slightly broader thought process: 'Okay, this isn't quite working. We thought it might be positive. The drivers have made their voices heard loudly, and we've got to listen to that.'

We still have great racing, but it's not the pure racing that the drivers and the fans want. Fans want the drivers to be pushed and tested, not the technology controlling everything.

The issue they had when some of them stopped and the delays that came with it – that is so unnecessary. I've heard the words from the FIA, the teams, Formula One, and the drivers: they're too complicated. That's the biggest problem.

You can. But we've got to give him the right car for him to have the motivation to stick around. It would be so foolish not to change it and then lose him because of that.

In some ways, yes. You just need the drivers to be tested to the max. The human element should be the most powerful part of it, but at the moment, it's secondary, which is why it's disjointed. Max is one of those, and Lewis as well. Lewis had a great race in Malaysia despite having the wrong tyres on. We want to see the likes of Lewis still having that passion, but Max is the one who still wows me and millions around the world.

It was typically an old-school Lewis performance. It was tricky when he put those slick tyres on with the track still being fairly wet. Yes, he lost a lot of time, but once those tyres came into effect, he was able to show us he still has that hunger, desire and skill set to pull off that podium finish. It was brilliant. It was nice for him, nice for Charles [Leclerc], and nice for Ferrari to show actual good pace.

Would they have taken the fight to Max if they hadn't lost those 20 seconds? Probably not, because after the safety car they closed up, but there were four cars between him and Max. But Lewis is showing once again that he has not lost any of his speed.

I've done it before where it's been declared wet, I think I did it [at the United States Grand Prix] in Indianapolis in 2000. I was the only one who started on slick tyres. The track was drier than what it was in Malaysia, but everybody else started on intermediates, and I capitalised massively on that. You're allowed to take that risk.

Ferrari and Lewis thought it was a risk worth taking to beat Max. Sometimes you have to do that. I know they panicked and told him to come in, but Lewis rightly said, 'We've already lost out, we're going to lose even more if we do another pit stop.' They stuck with what they had and actually benefited by listening to Lewis and Charles. I think the drivers should have that choice. You shouldn't say everybody needs to be on wet tyres. Sometimes you take that risk.

It's tough. You look at the other side of the garage, and Kimi [Antonelli] isn't having as many race-ruining problems. It's clear to see George is being a little bit unluckier. Mercedes have had gremlins and issues creep into both sides, but more on George's. George has just got to get himself mentally prepared to take it to Kimi next year. Hopefully, that luck will come his way. Motorsport isn't fair all the time, but you've got to bounce back from that.

I think they're in a better position. Certain things like the strategy are much stronger now. Lewis had his difficulties with his race engineer last year in Monaco, but that's been changed. He's happier, and he seems to be quite influential in a lot of the internal situations going on. I'm sure Charles is exactly the same. Fred Vasseur is a good man; he's very, very sharp in his decisions. Some of the decisions are starting to work for him, as we saw in Malaysia.

There are positive signs. It's not the complete package at the moment, but you're up against the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren. They've got the right drivers, and the strategy is much stronger. Sometimes you just need those positives within the strategy department to feel more confident and make the right decisions.

I don't feel that they are saying he is their number one and Charles [Leclerc] has no chance, I think they're trying to be as equal as they possibly can. They support them both. Whenever the drivers have a problem, they will listen and change it if need be.

They are a good pairing together because they push each other. One minute it's Lewis, then Charles bounces back. That's very good motivation within the team to see both your drivers pushing each other and hustling the car.

Max is committed. We all thought he might leave last year, but he has been swayed to stay at Red Bull because they told him they could deliver, and they have. When Lewis left McLaren to go to Mercedes, everybody thought he was mad. But Mercedes showed him what they were doing, told him where they would be, and they delivered.

With Max, it's exactly the same scenario. Red Bull has sold him on the new positive things coming along, and they are giving him a much more competitive car. Why would he move? They've done a very smart thing at Red Bull – they haven't just promised things, they've achieved them.

I think he has to go up there with the likes of Ayrton Senna when he came in, Lewis when he came in, and Max when he won his first race at Red Bull in Barcelona. Kimi was probably a little bit unreliable last year, but my word, has he really turned that around!

The consistency he's getting and his ability to get the best out of himself – even in difficult situations with engine penalties – shows immense mental strength. There is a wow factor about him at such a young age. And there's no arrogance, he's humble. It's refreshing, and very different from what we've seen with Max in the past, or even Lewis.

I suppose the one that I always feel lost out a little bit – though it was probably of his own making in some ways – is Carlos Sainz. I like Carlos and the way he goes about his racing, but it's not quite happening for him at the present time at Williams. There was some movement in the right direction, but sadly it's gone into a bit of a stutter and a misfire.

As for younger drivers, [Arvid] Lindblad has done very good so far. Hadjar is doing so well, but there isn't room to move up just yet. Liam Lawson hasn't done bad at all, actually.

As I know him, he's still highly motivated. He's still desperate to get another World Championship. He had that dream of working with Adrian Newey, which he's doing at the present time. Unfortunately, it's not quite working; it's been the Honda issue that has held them back. We probably don't really know the full story of how good the car is because of the engine issues. He still feels he can beat anybody on track, and he has motivation in droves.

There is no place for cheating in sport. Teams are always going to push boundaries in a direction that is frowned upon. With Red Bull, there's got to be a balance of how you enforce penalties. Yes, they pushed the boundaries, went over the top, and got penalised, but teams always think, 'Is it worth the risk?' Overall, I think they did benefit from it.

It's a very hard thing to balance. In Formula 1, the breach was relatively small – a couple of million. The Man City situation is a couple of billion. It's a completely different scale.

That's the way the family wants it. Michael was very much that way even when he was driving; he kept to himself. The family did the Netflix documentary a year or two ago, but they very much keep themselves to themselves.

Formula 1 could go big on Michael and his race wins and championships, but he's not part of the paddock. Ayrton Senna passed in a racing way, and his family worked very hard to keep his name out there. People are still very aware of the Schumacher name. Let's just hope one day he turns up, and then they can celebrate him.

I am going to go with Max again, Max will be very, very strong. There's a chance McLaren might have a better weekend on that type of track. Mercedes are obviously going to be in the mix.

But the one dark horse could be Ferrari; the track might suit the way the Ferrari handles, and they've been quite good over the history of Singapore. It should be mighty close, but I think Max will be on a roll.

Lewis and I'm going to have to say Kimi.