Jos Verstappen has slammed the FIA over its selection of stewards amid the penalties that were handed to Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen was penalised in the race for forcing his title rival Lando Norris wide at Turn 4 and going off the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 8.
For his actions, Verstappen received two 10-second time penalties as he eventually finished in sixth place, while Norris went on to clinch second place.
After the race, Verstappen refused to get drawn into the debate over the punishment he received, instead focusing on the lack of performance he had with his Red Bull car.
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-120x86.webp)
However, his father wasn’t as afraid of targeting the FIA afterwards and accused certain stewards of having “sympathy for certain drivers”.
“You can start talking about it for a very long time, but it makes no difference anyway, Max has to drive the way he wants,” Verstappen told Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
“He has to do this because the car is not good enough and he is doing everything he can to win the title.
“But Max is not going to change his driving style because there were a couple of stewards present now who don’t like him anyway.
“The FIA should take a good look at the staffing of the stewards, who they put there and whether there is no appearance of a conflict of interest.
“From former drivers, for example, who have more sympathy for certain drivers or [teams].”
Verstappen takes another hit at Red Bull for lack of pace
Johnny Herbert and Tim Mayer were a part of the panel of stewards in place for the Mexico City GP.
Herbert is a former British F1 racing driver, while Mayer is the son of the late McLaren co-founder Teddy Mayer.
The former Minardi driver’s comments about certain stewards favouring particular drivers could be in relation to the pair according to De Telegraaf.
What was clear is that Verstappen Sr is still unhappy with the pace of his son’s car as he once again criticised the team.
He added: “As far as Max is concerned, the most important thing is that the basis, the car, is not good.
“You could see that in his team-mate’s performance, even Haas was faster than Red Bull in the race.”
The three-time World Champion himself was upset with the lack of pace he had during the race as he said the car is “too slow”.
He also agreed with his father that he was forced to fight like he did against Norris because the car was not competitive enough.
F1 title battle rages on
Norris’ gap to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Standings is now down to 47 points with four races left and two sprint races as well.
The McLaren driver needs to outscore the Dutchman by an average of 12 points each race weekend.
The title race has escalated recently with Norris being controversially penalised in Austin for going off the track and gaining an advantage whilst overtaking Verstappen.
The two also came together in Austria and there is plenty of time for more action and twists in this enthralling battle for the Drivers’ title.
READ MORE: Red Bull denies similarities between Max Verstappen Austin and Mexico F1 clashes
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-350x250.webp)
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-360x180.webp)
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