Max Verstappen said after the Singapore Grand Prix that his punishment for swearing in a news conference could speed up his exit from Formula 1.
The Dutchman, 26, has often said that he is not motivated by having a long F1 career and breaking all the records, and that he has other things he wants to achieve in motorsport.
But after a weekend dominated by a controversy over his behaviour in news conferences, Verstappen made it clear his patience was wearing thin.
“These kinds of things definitely decide my future as well, when you can’t be yourself or you have to deal with these kinds of silly things,” he said.
“Now I am at the stage of my career where you don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring.
“For me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that’s for sure.”
On Friday in Singapore, Verstappen was ordered by race stewards to “accomplish some work of public interest”. It was a punishment for swearing while describing his car’s performance at the previous race in Baku while speaking in the official pre-event news conference on Thursday.
He staged a protest against the decision by giving short answers in the official post-qualifying news conference on Saturday, before speaking to journalists outside the room.
He called the penalty “ridiculous” and was backed by title rival Lando Norris and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
After finishing second to Norris in the grand prix, Verstappen conducted the post-race news conference in a similar manner, before speaking to the written media extensively in the Red Bull hospitality unit.
He described the situation as “silly”, and said he was being deprived of the ability to be his authentic self.
“If you can’t really be yourself to the fullest, then it’s better not to speak,” Verstappen said. “But that’s what no one wants because then you become a robot and that’s not how you should be going about it in the sport.
“You should be able to show emotions in a way. That’s what racing is about. Any sport.
“Anyone on the pitch, if they get tackled, or get pushed or they are not happy with something or there is a frustrating moment, or something they get asked about, it’s quite normal there can be a sort of reaction.”
Asked whether he had told governing body the FIA it risked pushing him out of the sport, he said: “I don’t know how seriously they will take that kind of stuff, but for me when it’s enough, it’s enough and we’ll see.
“Racing will go on, F1 will go on without me. It’s not a problem. But also it’s not a problem for me. It’s how it is.”
Verstappen said he felt he had been treated unfairly, especially as he had always tried to help out the governing body if asked.
“There is of course no desire to then give long answers there when you get treated like that,” he said. “I never really felt like I had a bad relationship with them.
“Even this year I did voluntary work with junior stewards. I gave them half an hour interview. It was all set up. I try to help out if they have little favours or whatever.
“I am not a difficult person to say no, I am like: ‘OK, sure, if that’s what you guys like, I like to help out.’ And then I get treated like that. Well, that’s just not how it works.
“So for me it was just quite straightforward, I know I have to answer [in the news conference] but it doesn’t say how long you have to answer for.”
Verstappen said the other F1 drivers, who work together on rules issues under the auspices of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), backed him.
“I wrote in the GPDA [WhatsApp chat] the ruling and everyone was almost laughing,” he said. “Like, ‘what the hell is that?’ So it is very silly.”
Verstappen was asked how long he would continue to behave in such a manner in news conferences, and said he would “see where we are at” by the time of the next race, the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on 18-20 October.
Implying that other decisions by officials were ill-considered, he referenced the decision to fine Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz 25,000 euros (£21,000) for crossing the track after crashing in qualifying.
“Carlos got a fine for crossing the track as well, right?” Verstappen said. “I mean, what are we talking about? It’s a red flag, cars are coming in, it’s quite safe and he knows what he’s doing. We are not stupid.
“These kind of things – when I saw it even getting noted [by the stewards], I was like, ‘My god, what are we dealing with?’ These kinds of things are super-silly.”
Asked whether he was prepared to discuss the matter with Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of FIA, Verstappen said: “It’s not only FIA, it’s also F1. It’s a whole how you operate together.”
Norris closes title gap – but not fast enough
The issue dominated a weekend on which Verstappen lost further ground to Norris in the championship but will probably reflect on being an overall positive result for him and his team.
Red Bull were expecting to struggle in Singapore – it was the only race they failed to win last year, when they won the title with the most dominant season in history.
But Verstappen ended up qualifying and finishing second to Norris. Although the McLaren driver reduced his points deficit to Verstappen to 52 points with six races to go, the average at which Norris has to eat into the gap per race has gone up slightly, to 8.7 a race.
Norris, whose performance was the most dominant win of the season, said: “I’m doing my best every weekend. I’m trying to get the most points I can every weekend. Includes fastest lap and things like that.
“But if Max keeps finishing second and Red Bull keep doing like they did this weekend, then there’s nothing more I can do. So just focus on myself and focus on us as a team. That’s it.”
Norris admitted he had “paid the price for not doing a good enough job at times” this season in races in which he felt he had made mistakes that had prevented him from securing a better result.
And he referenced another of the controversies of the Singapore weekend. That was over a rear wing McLaren had used in Baku but have decided to modify before its next intended use in Las Vegas in November, following complaints from Red Bull about how it was flexing and conversations with the FIA.
Norris said: “I still have a lot of points I’ve got to catch up and it’s not going to be easy to do it. It’s against Red Bull and it’s against Max, the most dominant pairing you’ve ever seen in Formula 1, from last year.
“It’s the same team and it’s the same driver. So I have some of the toughest competition that Formula 1 has ever seen in the sport. We are doing a better job as a team right now because my car and our car is quicker than theirs.
“But that’s just credit to the team doing an amazing job and being smarter and doing cooler things and creating mini-DRS flaps and stuff, you know.
“So it’s just because that’s the game and that’s the people we’re up against, the people who also do it and people who create these things.
“I’m working my heart out, I’m working my butt off, to try and make sure that happens. He’s trying to make sure it doesn’t happen. So we’ll have to wait and find out.”
Verstappen was helped by a difficult weekend for Ferrari. Their driver Charles Leclerc appeared to have had the pace to qualify ahead of Verstappen, but he made a mistake on his one qualifying lap and started ninth.
Leclerc recovered to fifth place with a drive which showed strong pace when he was running alone in the second stint.
And McLaren felt that Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished third after starting fifth following a mistake on his qualifying lap, could also have demoted the Dutchman.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “From a numerical point of view, it’s a little frustrating because I think we could have gone away from Singapore having gained more points on Max.
“Ferrari could have finished ahead of Max. Even Oscar, polishing a little bit the qualifying laps, he could have finished ahead of Max.
“But the positives that come from the pace of the car definitely overcome this kind of frustration when you have this sort of pace.
“We are heading on to the next six events, three of which are sprint events. It is definitely not in our hands. It is still in Max’s hands. Likewise, the constructors’ is more in our hands.
“But we go away potentially encouraged and even optimistic that the drivers’ championship is possible because of the performance of the car.
“We need to recognise that if we maximise the potential of the car, finishing with two cars ahead of Max, it’s possible, and that’s what makes us optimistic.”