Max Verstappen announced at a press conference that he had still not communicated with the FIA following his sanction for uttering an expletive in front of the international media.
Following this sanction, the Red Bull driver is expected to continue to protest by answering questions as briefly as possible during press conferences for the F1 United States Grand Prix this weekend.
As a reminder, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the three-time F1 World Champion had described his RB20 as “f*****” and was subsequently sanctioned by the FIA by receiving a community service sentence.
Max Verstappen reacted by avoiding responding appropriately in subsequent press conferences, choosing to only speak to journalists outside of official settings.
“I haven’t received anything, so for me it doesn’t change anything”, Verstappen told the BBC. “I of course prefer to talk less, so it’s good for me anyway.”
Verstappen added that he “would express himself” during official press conferences in Texas this weekend, but indicated that his protest against the FIA would continue. He said that the most appropriate, precise and clear answers would only be given to journalists outside of press conferences.
Read also: Singapore Commissioner Herbert details why Verstappen was sanctioned
Even if he describes this situation with the FIA as “stupid”, he indicates that he was “always open to discussion.”
However, he added that it was not up to him to “reach out.”
“I live my life. I continue, nothing changes.”
If he does not wish to reach out to the FIA, he has nevertheless given his point of view on the situation.
“Of course, I know you can’t swear in general, but it’s more like when you insult someone. Then you hear comments, like: ‘Yeah, but you don’t want the kids to see that.’ But when I was five years old, I never watched a press conference in my life. And at school, we hear things much worse than that. Because you grow up with kids and you’re a little rebellious, you always say nasty things. That’s how life is.”
Rivals on the track, Max Verstappen received support from Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris backed him. The seven-time F1 World Champion even suggested that Verstappen should not follow through with the sanction handed down by the FIA.
Read also: Verstappen: Red Bull could have managed Ricciardo’s departure better
