Max Verstappen remains stubborn: The FIA penalty for using the word “fucked” is causing his love for Formula 1 to acutely expire
The ruling of the race commis issare in Singapore to sentence him to a day of “motorsport social work” for using the word “fucked” in an official FIA press conference could make Max Verstappen rethink his future in Formula 1. The three-time world champion made the comments on Sunday after finishing second in the classic “Nightrace”.
The race had just ended when team principal Christian Horner sat in the Red Bull hospitality unit and revisited the matter that had been the talk of the paddock all weekend: “I’m not sure how much Max is talking in the FIA press conference right now. But I guess it’s pretty little.”
Verstappen was penalized on Friday and effectively boycotted the Saturday press conference after qualifying. After the official FIA talk, he took the journalists outside, where he patiently answered their questions. But not in the FIA press conference room. This was important to him as a sign of protest.
During Sunday’s post-race press conference, Verstappen spoke a little more than the day before, but he still seemed curt. Until a journalist asked at the end: “Max, would you still prefer us to speak to you outside of this room?” To which he replied: “It’s been a long day, yes.”
What Verstappen said after the FIA press conference
With a bunch of journalists in tow, he then made his way to the Red Bull hospitality area, where Horner had been speaking shortly before. And there, on what he saw as neutral ground, he began to open up: “I have absolutely no desire to give long answers there when I’m treated like that.”
At some point, Ben Hunt, a journalist from Autosport, chimes in, “You’ve always had a complicated relationship with Formula 1. Does that now make you think about everything again? Do you ever feel like you don’t want to do this anymore?”
Verstappen thinks for a moment before answering: “Of course. Yes. I mean, things like that certainly also determine what I will do in the future. If you can no longer be yourself and have to deal with such nonsense… I am now at a stage in my career where I no longer want to deal with that. Because it’s exhausting.”
“It’s great to be successful and win races. But when you’ve won races and are world champion, it’s also about enjoying the time. Everyone is doing their best, everyone, even those at the back. But if you have to deal with such nonsense, then for me it doesn’t speak in favor of continuing in this sport. That’s for sure.”
The journalists present immediately grasp the significance of Verstappen’s words. Especially since the Red Bull team says that the Dutchman can be quite stubborn when someone wants to ban him from racing, and that his principles and the joy of driving in Formula 1 are more important to him than more victories, world championship titles and dollars in his account.
“Ultimately, I don’t know how seriously they take it all,” he says, referring to the FIA. ‘But for me, there’s a point where I say, ’That’s enough now. Enough is enough.’ We’ll see. Formula One will continue without me. That’s not a problem for them. But it’s not one for me either.” And when asked whether his love for Formula 1 is waning as a result, Verstappen replies, “Yes, sure.”
Wurz: That’s the position of the drivers’ union on the penalty
Especially since hardly anyone in the paddock can understand why the FIA is suddenly cracking down so hard on such trivialities. Verstappen did not use the word “fucked” to describe another person (as he has done in the past), but to describe his race car. Many find it petty to sanction that.
Alexander Wurz, chairman of the drivers’ union GPDA, is also surprised that Verstappen is suddenly being reprimanded so harshly when expletives have not been sanctioned nearly as severely in the past – and he provides a convincing example to back up his argument.
“How many lifetime community services would Günther Steiner have to do for using the F-word?”,”He was glorified for the F-word! Netflix: broadcast worldwide, no problem. Okay. But then to suddenly change like that?”
Lewis Hamilton had already stated on Saturday that he would refuse social service in Verstappen’s place, and many drivers express similar views off the record. ‘He’s not the one who was punished,’ Verstappen waves away and adds: ”I’m not even thinking about it. It just takes away my energy. Because it’s really very stupid.”
He currently has ‘no bad relationship’ with the FIA, Verstappen assures, and reveals: ”I have done volunteer work, even this year. I worked with young commissioners, I put up with a half-hour of their nonsense, just like in real life. I’m trying to help there.”
“If they need any little favors, then I’m an approachable guy. ‘Okay, if that’s what you want, I’ll do it.’ I’m happy to help. But when you’re treated like that… That’s not how it works,” he says, referring to his PK appearance: ”I know I have to answer the questions. But there is no rule about how long my answers have to be.”
“If you can’t be yourself anymore, then it’s smarter to say nothing at all,” explains Verstappen, announcing that he might be able to continue his boycott of the press conference for even longer. When asked how long he will continue to hold his little rounds outside of the FIA press conference room, he replies, ”I don’t care. Does it bother you? It works for me.”
It all started with the Sulayem interview
The whole affair started with an interview that FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem gave in Baku. In the interview, he said, in essence, that Formula One drivers should not act like rappers. To be fair to him, however, Sulayem never called for penalties for swearing, but only asked the drivers to pay attention to their choice of words.
Nevertheless, the president has become a persona non grata. When asked whether it would help if Sulayem were to call him, Verstappen dodges the question: “I will always be myself. I will not change.” And when asked if he thinks it all comes from one person, he replies: ”I don’t want to comment. Because it’s difficult for me to judge.”
The fact is that Sulayem did not come to one of the drivers’ briefings to discreetly discuss the choice of words at GPDA level, but decided to communicate the topic in an interview, which some drivers found offensive. Which is why the GPDA is not now publicly counterattacking.
Wurz says: “Personally, I always believe, and we also do it at the GPDA: We solve it internally. We don’t go through the media.“ Very rarely does something go out from the GPDA through the media because we simply try to solve it internally in the interest of the sport and want to bring the people and the individual persons, the key stakeholders, on our journey together.”
The Austrian believes: “Drivers must be allowed to express themselves authentically to some extent. Of course, it shouldn’t be personally hurtful, and also not discriminatory. They are all at that stage now. For me personally, the punishment is therefore too severe.” That is why the GPDA is now considering ‘whether and in what form we will talk to the FIA and the president’.
Christian Horner also hints between the lines that he missed tact on the part of the FIA in the matter: ”Of course the drivers are role models. But that was language as it is used in everyday life. I think it could have been handled a bit better. Then it wouldn’t have been so unpleasant for everyone involved.”
Verstappen: ‘… then we’ll just have soulless robots’
In any case, for Verstappen it is clear: ”If you can no longer be yourself, then it is better not to talk at all. But that can’t be what we want either, because then we’ll have nothing but soulless robots in sport. And that’s not what people want to see, I think.”
It’s ‘clear to me’ that you shouldn’t insult other people, says Verstappen. He learned his lesson long ago from the ‘Mongo affair’ with Lance Stroll. ”But overall, it’s all getting a bit too soft for me right now, and to be honest, I think it’s really, really stupid that we have to deal with issues like this.”
Verstappen believes that Formula One officials are going in the wrong direction by, on the one hand, wanting more authentic drivers and mourning the loss of legends like James Hunt, but on the other hand, imposing official penalties when someone says “fucked”. He emphasizes: “I think we should be allowed to show our emotions.”
He doesn’t want to say any more about the whole matter, he says, “otherwise I’ll be called to the commissioners again in a moment.” He leaves open the question of how long he wants to continue his boycott of the press conference before the October break in Formula 1: “Now we’ll get away from it all for a few weeks, and then we’ll fly to Austin. Let’s see how it looks then.”
