On Friday in Singapore, Verstappen was ordered by race stewards to “accomplish some work of public curiosity”. It was a punishment for swearing whereas describing his automotive’s efficiency on the earlier race in Baku whereas talking within the official pre-event information convention on Thursday.
He staged a protest towards the choice by giving brief solutions within the official post-qualifying information convention on Saturday, earlier than talking to journalists outdoors the room.
He referred to as the penalty “ridiculous” and was backed by title rival Lando Norris and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
After ending second to Norris within the grand prix, Verstappen performed the post-race information convention in an identical method, earlier than talking to the written media extensively within the Crimson Bull hospitality unit.
He described the state of affairs as “foolish”, and stated he was being disadvantaged of the flexibility to be his genuine self.
“Should you can’t actually be your self to the fullest, then it’s higher to not converse,” Verstappen stated. “However that’s what nobody desires as a result of you then grow to be a robotic and that’s not how you ought to be going about it within the sport.
“It is best to have the ability to present feelings in a method. That’s what racing is about. Any sport.
“Anybody on the pitch, in the event that they get tackled, or get pushed or they don’t seem to be proud of one thing or there’s a irritating second, or one thing they get requested about, it’s fairly regular there generally is a form of response.”
Requested whether or not he had instructed governing physique the FIA it risked pushing him out of the game, he stated: “I don’t understand how severely they are going to take that form of stuff, however for me when it’s sufficient, it’s sufficient and we’ll see.
“Racing will go on, F1 will go on with out me. It’s not an issue. But in addition it’s not an issue for me. It’s how it’s.”
Verstappen stated he felt he had been handled unfairly, particularly as he had at all times tried to assist out the governing physique if requested.
“There may be in fact no need to then give lengthy solutions there while you get handled like that,” he stated. “I by no means actually felt like I had a nasty relationship with them.
“Even this yr I did voluntary work with junior stewards. I gave them half an hour interview. It was all arrange. I attempt to assist out if they’ve little favours or no matter.
“I’m not a troublesome individual to say no, I’m like: ‘OK, positive, if that’s what you guys like, I like to assist out.’ After which I get handled like that. Effectively, that’s simply not the way it works.
“So for me it was simply fairly easy, I do know I’ve to reply [in the news conference] nevertheless it doesn’t say how lengthy you need to reply for.”
Verstappen stated the opposite F1 drivers, who work collectively on guidelines points underneath the auspices of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Affiliation (GPDA), backed him.
“I wrote within the GPDA [WhatsApp chat] the ruling and everybody was nearly laughing,” he stated. “Like, ‘what the hell is that?’ So it is extremely foolish.”
Verstappen was requested how lengthy he would proceed to behave in such a fashion in information conferences, and stated he would “see the place we’re at” by the point of the subsequent race, the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on 18-20 October.
Implying that different selections by officers have been ill-considered, he referenced the choice to nice Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz 25,000 euros (£21,000) for crossing the observe after crashing in qualifying.
“Carlos bought a nice for crossing the observe as properly, proper?” Verstappen stated. “I imply, what are we speaking about? It’s a pink flag, automobiles are coming in, it’s fairly protected and he is aware of what he’s doing. We’re not silly.
“These form of issues – after I noticed it even getting famous [by the stewards], I used to be like, ‘My god, what are we coping with?’ These sorts of issues are super-silly.”
Requested whether or not he was ready to debate the matter with Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of FIA, Verstappen stated: “It’s not solely FIA, it’s additionally F1. It’s a complete how you use collectively.”