FIA suspends steward for Canadian Grand Prix over Verstappen penalty comments

Formula 1's governing body has suspended a driver steward for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix over comments he made regarding a penalty Max Verstappen received two weeks ago.

The FIA said Friday that Derek Warwick's comments were not authorized and he will be replaced by Enrique Bernoldi, who will officiate from the Remote Operations Centre in Geneva for the remainder of the weekend.

“After discussion, Derek acknowledges that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward and has apologized,” the FIA said in a statement. “Derek will resume his duties as a steward in the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix.”

Verstappen received a three-point penalty for running George Russell off track at the Spanish Grand Prix. The penalty put the four-time reigning F1 champion just one point away from an automatic one-race suspension.

Warwick did an interview with a gambling publication in which he defended the penalty levied to Verstappen as the “perfect” punishment because the Dutchman was "absolutely wrong” in the contact with Russell.

It is the second time this year the FIA has penalized a race steward.

Johnny Herbert was let go in January as a steward because the FIA said his “duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible.” The FIA said the decision was made “with regret.'

Herbert at the end of the 2024 season gave several interviews to gambling sites, some related to high-profile decisions he was involved with in his role as a steward. He even had a public argument with Jos Verstappen, father of the four-time champion, after Verstappen was penalized in Mexico City for an incident with Lando Norris.

Jos Verstappen alleged Herbert was biased and said “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."

Herbert in turn criticized Verstappen’s driving and called it “over the top.” He also said Verstappen had developed “a horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow driver off the race track.”

The FIA determined Herbert had displayed impartiality and could no longer be a steward.

Warwick, meanwhile, has apologized and the FIA has indicated his punishment is only for this weekend.

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Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, sits in his car during a pit stop at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)