Max Verstappen issues fresh update on ‘very unnecessary’ FIA swearing row

Max Verstappen insists he will speak in FIA press conferences, but as long as he has the threat of punishment hanging over his head, he won’t say much.

Verstappen was penalised at the Singapore Grand Prix for dropping the F-word in a press conference just hours after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem warned the drivers about their language.

Max Verstappen: I think nothing changes

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Declaring his RB20 was “f****ed” in Baku, Verstappen was punished with a day of community services, which has yet to be announced, that would be dictated by the FIA.

The Red Bull driver staged an almost silent protest as he refused to give anything except short one-sentence answers in his subsequent qualifying and Grand Prix press conferences. In doing so he still fulfilled his FIA duties but his thoughts on the matter were made crystal clear.

Having not heard anything from the FIA since Singapore, he’s set to continue with his actions at the United States Grand Prix.

“I will speak,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com during his media briefing on Thursday.

But when asked if the media would get ‘proper’ answers from him, he said: “This table [outside the FIA rooms] works well.

“From my side at the moment, it’s not that I am the one that has to reach out. I just live my life. I just continue. And I think nothing changes.”

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Asked if a big deal had been made out of something that didn’t need to be a conflict, he replied: “Yeah, but I think already the world that we live in, right?

“This particular scenario, yes, it’s very unnecessary. Of course I know you can’t generally swear but it’s more about when you insult someone.

“Then you hear comments, like: ‘Yeah but you don’t want kids seeing that.’ But when I was five years old, I never watched a press conference in my life anyway.

“At school you hear way worse things than that. Because you grow up with kids and you’re a bit of a rebel, so you always say bad stuff. That’s just how life is.

“They want you to set an example. Yeah, sure. I don’t think they should make such a big deal about it.”

“I’m not aggressive,” he added. “I just want to live my life and if I don’t agree with something, I’ll say it. That’s it.”

As for whether FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had reached out to him since then, Verstappen said: “No.

“I’m always open for a chat. But from my side at the moment, it’s not that I am the one who has to reach out with this stuff. I just live my life and continue. Nothing changes.”

He reiterated later: “I’ve not talked to the FIA about it.”

The FIA has yet to clarify what Verstappen’s community service will be.

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