Max Verstappen has said he has no issues continuing to host his own media scrums rather than being unable to be himself in FIA press conferences.
Verstappen drew the ire of the governing body at the Singapore Grand Prix as he was given a punishment for using the F-word in the Thursday FIA press conference, resulting in the Dutch driver refusing to engage in the following press conferences he was required to attend for finishing in the top three.
Max Verstappen: It’s super silly what we’re dealing with
Verstappen was ordered to carry out work “in the public service” after using the expletive, resulting in many of his fellow drivers poking fun at the situation as they kept referring to being aware of what language they used while speaking publicly.
His punishment will likely be to take part in something related to an educational purpose, such as when his team boss Christian Horner took part in the annual training meeting for race stewards in 2022.
The Red Bull driver, instead of answering questions properly in the FIA press conferences – where he made a point of explaining his reticence was not aimed at host Tom Clarkson – instead hosted his own media sessions after qualifying and the race.
Finishing second at Marina Bay, Verstappen spoke out about how he felt irked by the decision taken by the FIA to punish him for his use of language.
“I think it’s just the wording, the ruling that the sport is heading into – for me personally, with these kind of things, I know, of course, you can’t insult people. That’s quite straightforward and I think no one really wants to do that,” he said.
“But, yeah, it’s all a bit too soft. Really, honestly, it’s silly. It’s super silly what we’re dealing with.”
Such restrictions being placed upon the drivers rob personalities of being authentic, Verstappen said, explaining: “If you can’t really be yourself to the fullest, then it’s better not to speak.
“At the end of the day, that’s what no one wants because then you become a robot, and that’s not how you should be going about it in the sport.”
The reigning F1 World Champion also revealed he had written the steward’s ruling with his punishment to the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, where it had met with mirth.
“I wrote in the GPDA the ruling,” he said.
“Everyone was almost laughing, you know, like, ‘What the hell is that?’ basically. It is very, very silly.”
Verstappen didn’t rule out the possibility of continuing to maintain this stance for the rest of the season, showing up to the press conferences to fulfil his FIA obligations before engaging more properly with the media via his own sessions.
“I don’t know. I don’t mind doing this (media scrum) For me, it works well,” he said.
“I think you should be able to show emotions in a way. That’s what racing is about, any sport. I mean, everyone walking around on a pitch if they get tackled or get pushed or they’re not happy with something, a frustrating moment or something that they get asked about, I think it’s quite normal that there can be a sort of reaction.”
Verstappen also said he couldn’t say how he sees the situation being resolved: “All these latest additions, I don’t want to go too much into detail because, otherwise, I might get called back up again!”
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Max Verstappen: These kind of things will decide my future
Verstappen, who is under contract with Red Bull until the end of F1 2028, has long made it clear that he is in the sport for his own personal enjoyment of racing and, having been annoyed to have been hauled up over what he viewed as a trivial matter, confirmed such antics would have a bearing on whether he’ll stick around.
“These kinds of things definitely decide my future as well, when you can’t be yourself, or you have to deal with these kinds of silly things,” he said.
“I think now, I’m at the stage of my career that you don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring, you know?
“Of course, it’s great to have success and win races, but once you have accomplished all that, winning championships and races, and then you want to just have a good time as well.
“Of course, everyone is pushing to the limit, everyone in this battle, even at the back of the grid. But if you have to deal with all these kind of silly things, for me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that’s for sure.”
Verstappen even had some support from Lewis Hamilton over the matter, with the British driver saying he hoped Verstappen would ignore the FIA ruling.
“I think it’s a bit of a joke, to be honest,” said Hamilton. “This is the pinnacle of the sport, mistakes are made.
“I certainly wouldn’t be doing it [serving the punishment] and I hope Max doesn’t do it.”
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