No further penalty for Verstappen's FIA protest

Sep.22 (GMM) “Nobody” on the Formula 1 grid agrees with the new FIA clampdown against swearing, according to the president of the drivers’ union.

After qualifying in Singapore, Max Verstappen staged a protest against his penalty for saying “f**k” in Thursday’s official FIA press conference.

In the post-qualifying FIA conference, he basically refused point-blank to answer questions. “I would prefer if you ask these questions outside the room,” the triple world champion told the assembled journalists.

Indeed, after saying almost nothing else in the FIA session, Verstappen happily spoke to the reporters as he walked back to the Red Bull hospitality area.

“This is not against the stewards,” the Dutchman insisted. “But I think it is ridiculous – so why should I give full answers?

“With me, they seem to want to create a big precedent, which seems very strange. I didn’t insult anyone. For me, this is not the way we can move forward in this sport.”

FIA officials visited Verstappen, 26, after his sabotage of the post-qualifying press conference, and was supported publicly by polesitter and friend Lando Norris and even seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“I think it’s a bit of a joke, to be honest,” Hamilton said. “This is the pinnacle of the sport. Mistakes are made.

“I certainly won’t be doing it, and I hope Max doesn’t do it,” he added, referring to Verstappen’s penalty of doing a day of unspecified community service.”

Wurz, present in Singapore, admitted that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s crusade against foul language has been a big topic of conversation in the F1 drivers’ Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) WhatsApp group chat.

“Nobody in the chat thinks it’s cool,” the former F1 driver told motorsport-total.com. “All the drivers are heated about it.”

Wurz added that it’s “unusual” that the FIA president didn’t warn the drivers before “immediately deciding to go public” and enforcing Verstappen-like penalties.

“Of course you have to be careful with your choice of words,” the 50-year-old Austrian said. “But nowadays it is also so difficult for a driver to remain authentic and to be who he wants to be.

“I am personally not a fan of verbally attacking competitors,” Wurz continued. “But if Max complains about his car, then that should only be a discussion with his team boss.”

As for Verstappen, he confirmed that while Wurz, Norris, Hamilton and one or two others offered him public support, “generally it’s clear what everyone is thinking”.

Auto Motor und Sport says it approached the FIA to see if Verstappen might be punished further for his post-qualifying protest, and the governing body “stated that the matter is closed”.