The storm due to the sanction in Australia
Once again a Commissioner has ended up in the crosshairs of keyboard lions who have expressed their vulgarity through social media. This time it was his turn Johnny Herbert, under fire for sanctioning Fernando Alonso with a 20-second penalty for driving in a “potentially dangerous” manner on the penultimate lap of the Australian Grand Prix. The Aston Martin driver braked 100 meters before the usual approach to the corner and George Russell – who was following him closely – was caught off guard and ended up off the track and against the barriers.
“I received a torrent of death threats for two weeks – revealed Johnny Herbert as reported by Mirror – most of which came from Spanish fans who posted dagger emoticons combined with comments like ‘we’ll come and get you, we know where you live’. I’m sure Alonso would be ashamed if he knew that his fans behave like this. Some even ‘cited’ him, claiming that since I am not a world champion I am not qualified to establish whether he should be sanctioned.”
The reference is to the fact that Alonso criticized Herbert on live television because the latter had argued that he should have ‘retired’ instead of criticizing the then McLaren with radio teams such as the “GP2 Engine” referring to the Honda power unit. “I’m world champion and you’re not, that’s why I’m here and you’re being a commentator on TV”, were Alonso’s words addressed to Herbert. The latter will not take a step back from the role of Steward: “I have broad shouldersI’m not impressed by these comments. I will continue to be a Steward. I find it ridiculous, however, that I am the one who ended up on the ‘wrong’ side according to these ‘fans’”.
