Max Verstappen hints that ‘silly’ punishment for swearing could hasten his retirement from F1
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Max Verstappen hinted on Sunday that his retirement from Formula One might be hastened after his “silly” punishment for swearing.
The Red Bull driver was told by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, that he should carry out “work of public interest” after using a swear word in a press conference on Thursday ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
In reaction to the punishment, the three-time world champion gave only short answers during pre-race press conferences, instead choosing to speak to journalists in the paddock away from the official media session. He was supported by many of his fellow drivers, who expressed their surprise at Verstappen’s punishment.
After finishing second behind Lando Norris in Singapore on Sunday, Verstappen took the same terse approach in the post-race media appearance, before later expressing his frustration at the punishment and the effect it has on him.
“These kind of things definitely decide my future as well. When you can’t be yourself or you have to deal with these kind of silly things,” the Dutch driver told reporters, per Reuters. “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. Of course, it’s great to have success and win races, but once you have accomplished all that, winning championships and races, then you want to just have a good time as well.”
Verstappen added: “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.”
In its ruling, the FIA said that Verstappen had described his car’s performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in language “not considered suitable for broadcast,” adding: “It is important for role models to learn to be mindful when speaking in public forums, in particular when not under any particular pressure.”
In a private media session, Verstappen said he had broad support from his fellow GPDA members, according to racing website Autosport and the Guardian
“Yeah, for sure. Of course, I wrote in the GPDA (WhatsApp chat) the ruling, and everyone was almost laughing, like: ‘What the hell is that?’ basically. So, yeah, it is very, very silly,” Verstappen said.
According to multiple reports, Alex Wurz – the chair of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) – said that the punishment handed out to Verstappen was too severe.
On X – formerly known as Twitter – Wurz expressed his surprise at the punishment for swearing, saying: “I wonder how many days of community service Guenther would get…” in reference to Guenther Steiner, the former team principle of Haas who was famous for his frequent swearing on the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive.”
CNN has contacted the GPDA, Wurz and the FIA for further comment.
The 26-year-old Verstappen has previously spoken about retiring from racing at a younger age than most. He said on Sunday that he feels strongly about being able to be who he wants to be.
“If you can’t really be yourself, to the fullest, then it’s better not to speak,” Verstappen explained. “That’s what no one wants because then you become a robot and it is not how you should be going about it in the sport.”
After finishing behind Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix, Verstappen’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship was cut to 52 points.
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