Jos Verstappen slams son Max's 'ridiculous' F1 swearing penalty
Jos Verstappen criticises the FIA's punishment for his son Max Verstappen amid F1 swearing saga.
Jos Verstappen has hit out at F1’s governing body for the punishment handed out to his son Max Verstappen for swearing in an official FIA press conference.
Three-time world champion Verstappen has been handed an effective community service order for using an expletive when describing the recent performance of his Red Bull during Thursday’s press conference before the Singapore Grand Prix.
Speaking at the East Belgian Rally, Verstappen Sr told Motorsport that he felt the penalty is “the most ridiculous thing”.
“I think that is the most ridiculous thing”, the former grand prix driver said. “But we also see it in rally.
“I don't think the FIA is doing a very good job. But I won't say too much about this!”
Verstappen staged a protest against his punishment by offering a “no comment” response to most questions in the post-qualifying press conference on Saturday in Singapore.
The Dutchman instead spoke to journalists outside of the official FIA press conference room in the paddock.
Verstappen gave slightly longer answers in Sunday’s post-race press conference before once again holding a separate session for the attending media in the paddock.
He admitted the punishment had left him reconsidering his F1 future.
"For sure. Yeah. I mean, these kinds of things definitely decide my future as well,” Verstappen replied when asked if such things would play into decisions over his future.
"When you can't be yourself, you have to deal with these kinds of silly things. I'm at a stage of my career that I 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.
"Everyone is pushing to the limit. Everyone in this battle, even at the back of the grid. But 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."
