Ex-F1 driver Derek Warwick, a steward at the Hungarian Grand Prix, has said he wanted to disqualify Michael Schumacher from the race.
Ex-F1 driver wanted to disqualify seven-time world champion
Ex-Formula One driver Derek Warwick, who served as a steward at the Hungarian Grand Prix, has said he wanted to disqualify Michael Schumacher from the race in order to send out a stronger message to young drivers.
The seven-time world champion picked up a 10-place grid penalty for the next round in Belgium after almost edging Williams driver Rubens Barrichello into the pit wall at 180mph during the final laps of Sunday's race in Budapest.
Although Schumacher initially defended his move, he subsequently apologised to his former team-mate at Ferrari, saying the move was "too severe". However, Warwick, who was on the stewards panel in Budapest as part of the FIA's decision to introduce former drivers to adjudicate on racing incidents, said he would have liked to see the Mercedes driver black flagged.
Warwick, who contested 162 grands prix for the likes of Toleman, Renault, Brabham, Arrows and Lotus, said: "I believe we had three laps to disqualify him from Budapest, and throwing a black flag would have shown a better example to our young drivers that we will not tolerate that kind of driving.
"But by the time we got the video evidence we ran out of time and we had to do it retrospectively.
"We inteviewed Rubens and Michael and it was kind of disappointing how Michael handled it, and we had no option but to give him a 10-place penalty. If we had enough laps (we could have disqualified him) but you have to have video evidence and make sure all four stewards are in agreement."
Big penalty
Warwick, who himself fell foul of the seven-time world champion on the track when the pair raced sportscars almost 20 years ago, still thinks the penalty in place for the next race at Spa-Francorchamps sends the right message, however.
"You have to view the evidence you have and you could disqualify him from the next grand prix, or two grands prix," the 55-year-old added. "But we felt a 10-place penalty is a big penalty to carry for Spa. It kind of puts him out of the race at Spa, and hopefully he will learn from that and remember that the new stewards will not tolerate that driving."
