Mika Salo unlikely to continue as F1 steward

Feb.17 (GMM) Mika Salo doubts he will be serving as an occasional Formula 1 steward this year.

Fellow former F1 driver Johnny Herbert was actually scheduled to serve as a steward at the opening grand prix of 2025 in Melbourne next month.

But the FIA performed a u-turn, concluding that Herbert’s parallel media work – primarily columns for gambling websites – was “incompatible” with serving as one of the sport’s officials.

“You can’t be a journalist and express your point of view and then play the referee,” FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem explained last week.

Salo, who has been a regular in the F1 stewards’ office since 2012, revealed to Iltalehti newspaper that he will continue to also work as a pundit for Viaplay this year.

“I’m not saying it’s for sure, but I’m unlikely to serve as a steward anymore,” the Finn said.

“I didn’t have time last year. There are also small conflicts of interest when you do other work related to the same sport. Then it’s difficult to be in a refereeing situation.

“I’d rather not do it at all than take any risk of someone getting angry about what I do.”

However, the former Sauber and Ferrari driver thinks his situation is slightly different to Herbert’s.

“He criticised Max Verstappen and a few other drivers quite publicly, so the FIA considered him to be a biased judge,” Salo said.