This is the opinion of former grand prix driver Derek Warwick, who supervised the FIA stewards during the weekend at the Hungaroring. In an interview with BBC radio's Five Live Breakfast, the British ex-racer said that he was more disappointed with Schumacher's reaction after the race than the move itself.
“By the time we got the video evidence we ran out of time and we had to do it retrospectively,” said Warwick, who admitted that showing the 41-year old a black flag “would have shown a better example to our young drivers.”
“You could disqualify him from the next grand prix, or two Grands Prix. But we felt a ten place penalty is a big penalty to carry for Spa. Hopefully he will learn from that and remember that the new stewards will not tolerate that driving,” the 55-year old argued his decision to keep Schumacher on the grid of the Belgian Grand Prix in late August.
Shortly after the race, Schumacher told the media that “we know certain drivers have certain views, and there's Rubens,” amid some intense criticism from Barrichello after the race. In fact, not only the Williams veteran had this view on things, as the entire paddock and the international media alike blamed the 7-time world champion for his crazy maneuver, which could have caused a major accident.
Yesterday afternoon, Schumacher issued a quick statement on his official website, apologizing for his move on Sunday and agreeing that he was too hard on Barrichello when he tried to overtake him.
“Yesterday, right after the race I was still in the heat of the action, but after I watched the incident with Rubens again, I must say that the stewards were right with their assessment: the move against him was too hard,” wrote Schumacher – who is also an ambassador for the FIA's road safety campaign – but not before the media called him a “villain” and asked for his immediate retirement from the sport.
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