Verstappen against the FIA
“Perhaps”, “I do not know”, “a bit”, “we’ll find out tomorrow”. These are the answers, laconic if not even monosyllabic, of Max Verstappen to journalists’ questions during the official FIA press conference at the end of qualifying for the Singapore GP. A clear sign of protest against the Federation after being penalised by the commissioners with a sentence of unspecified “works of public interest” for using inappropriate language (“fucking machine”) in the official meeting with the press on Thursday.
Verstappen’s show at the conference
Asked whether he feared further penalties for his public protest against the FIA, Verstappen therefore entrenched himself behind a dry “no comment”, and then he said: “I’m still responding, I just don’t talk much”, also adding a “I have voice problems” after a couple of seconds of embarrassed silence. A real show, the one put on by the reigning world champion, who finally explicitly asked his colleagues not to ask him any more questions in that place, making an appointment with everyone in a special impromptu meeting that would be held a few minutes later outside the FIA interview room.
Norris and Hamilton are with Max
A decidedly surreal atmosphere that also involved Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, who shared the microphone with Verstappen in the post-qualifying session at Marina Bay. The poleman initially joked that Max deserved the penalty because of his foul language, but then he became serious again: “I think it’s quite unfair, I don’t agree at all with what’s happeningEven more explicit was Sir Lewis, who is certainly not a friend of Verstappen but who in the recent past had been the protagonist of a controversy of the same nature with the FIA, regarding the use of piercings in the car: “I think this is a joke, to be honest. This is the pinnacle of sport, mistakes are made. I wouldn’t do community service and I hope Max doesn’t do it either.”.
Verstappen explains
Having recovered his voice as soon as he left the FIA press conference room, Verstappen finally explained his action: “I think it’s really ridiculous what happened, why should I give complete answers? It seems like it’s very easy to get a penalty, so I just don’t say anything, save my voice and then do the interviews elsewhere. The stewards? We met and had a productive discussion. But it is clear that they have to follow the rules, so it is not easy. I just think that this whole situation is crazy, since I did not insult anyone but I only said something about my car. And for that I was punished… I also received a lot of support from the other drivers. It seems clear what everyone thinks in this case”.
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