Asked about the performance of his car during the traditional pre-race press conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen said that it was “to shit” (fuckedin English). Comments which earned him a sanction from the FIA with an obligation to carry out community service.
In response, the triple World Champion gave some very laconic answers at the press conference after qualifying, before inviting journalists outside the interview room for a private interview session.
The same thing happened after Sunday’s race: after answering very briefly the questions put to him at the press conference organised by the FIA, the media were able to meet the Dutchman, second in the Singapore GP, again in the Red Bull motorhome.
More relaxed, Max Verstappen answered more openly this time again to the questions posed by the many journalists present. And, when Motorsport.com Asked if the sanction he received was likely to make him think about his future in Formula 1, the championship leader was straightforward.
Max Verstappen has threatened to turn his back on F1.
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
“Of course”he replied. “These kinds of things can definitely decide my future. When you can’t be yourself, you have to deal with these kinds of stupid things. I’m at a point in my career where I don’t want to be confronted with these kinds of things all the time, it’s really tiring.”
“Of course it’s great to be successful and win races, but once you’ve achieved all that, winning championships and races, you also want to enjoy yourself. Everyone is fighting, even at the back of the grid. But if you have to deal with all these stupid things, for me it’s not a way to continue in the sport, that’s for sure.”
Triple World Champion Max Verstappen has always been known for his outspokenness, and has never hesitated to give his opinion on certain excesses in his sport, notably by refusing at a certain period to intervene in the Netflix series Drive to Survive which, according to him, sometimes deviated from the reality of the facts.
Formula 1 will continue without me, that’s not a problem. And it’s not a problem for me either.
Verstappen has also never hidden his interest in competition outside of F1. Very active in Sim Racing, he is heavily involved in GT3 with the Swiss team Emil Frey Racing, and has already confided his project to set up his own team in the discipline by 2025. The Red Bull driver also recently spoke of his dream of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is why his annoyance expressed again here may have a particular resonance.
“I don’t know how seriously they will take this kind of thing,” continued Verstappen, still questioned by Motorsport.comreferring to the governing bodies of sport. “But, for me at some point, enough is enough! We will see, Formula 1 will continue without me, it is not a problem. And it is not a problem for me either. That’s how it is.”
“If you can’t really be yourself, then it’s better not to speak in the end. But nobody wants that, because then you become a robot, and that’s not the way it should be in sport.”
For the time being, Max Verstappen has said he plans to continue to be tight-lipped in official FIA press conferences, while planning other media meetings “outside the FIA framework”.
This controversy also comes at a time when the FIA, through its President Mohamed Ben Sulayem, has threatened sanctions against drivers who make comments deemed to be rude, particularly during their radio exchanges with their teams while they are on the track.
Max Verstappen also addressed the recent €25,000 fine imposed in Singapore on Carlos Sainz for crossing the track to reach his pit box after his Ferrari went off track, leading to a red flag during qualifying.
“Carlos was also fined for crossing the track,” Verstappen recalled. “No matter what anyone says, it was a red flag, the cars were coming into the pits. I think it was very safe, and he knew what he was doing. You know, we’re not stupid. Again, that’s a typical example. When I saw that, I thought, ‘My God, what are we doing?’ You know, that kind of thing is, to me, super stupid.”
With Jake Boxall-Legge
