Max Verstappen has warned he may sensationally quit Formula One after the governing body’s hardline response to the reigning champion swearing at a press conference.
The Red Bull driver described his car as ‘f****d’ on Thursday, earning him a community service punishment from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile.
Verstappen branded the punishment ‘ridiculous’, protesting the decision by giving one-word answers in an official FIA news press conference following Singapore Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of race week, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem urged racers to avoid bad language, insisting ‘we are not rappers’. Those comments disappointed Lewis Hamilton who believed there was a ‘racial element’ in his words.
Hamilton and Lando Norris, who won Sunday’s race at the Marina Bay, are among those to have questioned the FIA’s approach over Verstappen’s language, with the Dutchman insisting these sort of ‘silly altercations’ could force him out of the sport.
‘For sure, yeah,’ Verstappen said. ‘I mean, these kinds of things definitely decide my future as well.
‘When you can’t be yourself, you have to deal with these kinds of silly things. Now I’m at a stage of my career that I don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring.’
Verstappen also revealed he has been backed fully by other drivers in their private Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) WhatsApp group. F1 stars are now planning private discussions over how to best proceed.
GPDA chairman Alex Wurz told Fromel1.de: ‘How many lifetime community services would Guenther Steiner have to serve for using the F-word? He was glorified for using the F-word.
‘Netflix broadcast this worldwide, no problem. But then to suddenly change like that?
‘I have to say: [the choice of words] is not my personal taste as a driver. As GPDA chairman, I have to officially say that we will, of course, discuss it internally, first reach a full consensus, and then we will consider whether and in what form we will talk to the FIA and the president.
‘Personally, I always believe, and we also do this at the GPDA: we solve it internally. We don’t go through the media.
‘Very rarely does something go from the GPDA to the media because we simply try to solve things internally for the sake of the sport and want to bring the people and the individual key stakeholders on our journey together.
‘I think drivers have to be allowed to express themselves authentically to some extent. Of course, it shouldn’t be personally offensive, and it shouldn’t be discriminatory either. They’ve all come a long way in that regard. So, for me personally, the penalty is too severe.’