Despite a series of challenges with his RB20 throughout the weekend, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix race from the front row, having qualified second behind McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris – Verstappen’s closest rival in the 2024 World Driver’s Championship.
While speaking with the media during Saturday’s post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen, whose performance has underwhelmed in recent races, stated that he was happy with his performance during the interrupted qualifying session and thanked his team for their continued efforts towards improving his RB20.
“Yeah, I’m very happy with second today after yesterday.
“And I want to say also a big thank you to the team for continuing to push throughout the weekend, you know, to make the car better for me.
“So, yeah, very happy to be on the front row.”
This was Verstappen’s longest answer of the session, as when asked what had been changed between Friday’s practice sessions and Saturday’s final practice and qualifying sessions, he replied, “A lot,” before refusing to give further details for fear of incurring a further penalty from the FIA.
“No, I might get fined or get an extra day, so…”
On Friday, motorsport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) announced that Verstappen would be obligated to “accomplish some work of public interest”, as defined by Article 12.4.1.d of the International Sporting Code, in coordination with the Secretary-General for Sport of the FIA, as punishment for language used during the FIA Thursday Driver Press Conference. After reviewing the incident, the Stewards deemed that the Red Bull driver had breached Article 12.2.1.k of the International Sporting Code by using potentially coarse, rude or offensive language while describing his car at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
While Verstappen reportedly apologized for his behaviour, according to FIA: Singapore Grand Prix Document 15, he did not hide his dissatisfaction with the situation or the given penalty, giving only short, vague responses when questioned by the media.
When asked whether he was confident with the race pace shown by the RB20, he replied, “Maybe.”
“It’s an unknown. Yeah,” he later added when asked about potential uncertainties for the race given the problems he had experienced with his car during Friday’s practice sessions.
He also replied, “I will find out tomorrow,” when asked about his tactics for the race, given that he would be starting behind his title rival Norris, who was favoured to secure another race victory.
Despite Verstappen’s obvious frustration, he did reassure the gathered media personnel that his abrasive responses were neither geared toward them nor meant to upset them.
“This is not towards you, don’t worry. I don’t want to upset you,” he told Tom Clarkson.
He also expressed that he would be willing to answer questions outside the press conference room.
“I would prefer if you ask these questions outside the room.”
When asked what he believed would happen if the FIA opted to penalise him for his behaviour during the press conference, he responded, “No comment” before clarifying that he was responding, though sparingly, when asked how long he intended to not give answers during FIA press conferences. This, he stated was a decision that he had taken due to problems with his voice.”
“I’m answering. Just not a lot.
“Problem with my voice.”
This supposed problem with his voice did not persist during his impromptu press conference with the media following the conclusion of the official FIA press conference.
While speaking on his way to the TV pen, Verstappen acknowledged that his limited responses during the official conference had indeed been a form of protest. He stated that he found the situation “ridiculous” and had opted to curtail his answers to limit the FIA’s ability to penalise him for speech they disagreed with.
“Well, it’s just, I find it, of course, ridiculous what happens.
“So why should I the give full answers? Because I might, it’s very easily, apparently, you get a fine or you get some sort of penalty, so I prefer then, not to speak a lot. Save my voice.
“And, I mean, we can do the interviews also somewhere else, yeah, if you need some answers, questions asked. Yeah.”
When asked why he believed that the FIA had acted as they had with him given that other drivers whose speech had been deemed offensive had been penalised with warnings or fines, Verstappen suggested that he believed that the FIA had wanted to set a precedent or “an even bigger example.”
“Because they want to set a precedent, and people got warnings or a little fine.
“Now with me, they wanted to set an even bigger example, I guess.”
He stated that he found this “weird” as his language had been directed at his car – the RB20 – rather than a particular person or group.
“Which for me is a bit weird, of course. Because, I mean, I never, like, I didn’t swear at anyone particularly.
“I just said one thing about my car and they, I mean, yeah.”
Verstappen, however, did acknowledge the International Sporting Code, which his language had violated, and stated that he would not blame the Stewards for their role in the matter as they were duty-bound to follow the code as it was presented. He added that the Stewards had been “quite understanding” during his “good chat” with them and admitted that the matter had also been difficult for the Stewards themselves.
“It’s in the code, you know, so they have to follow the book.
“I had a good… Actually, it’s not on the Stewards. I don’t want to blame this on the Stewards because I actually had a really good chat with them.
“They just have to follow the code, you know, in the book. I think they’re quite understanding, but it’s, yeah, it’s difficult for them as well.”
The Red Bull driver was also asked for his opinions on restricted freedom to honestly express one’s emotions in the 21st century. While Verstappen indicated there were times when such expression was improper, particularly when insulting or offensive language was aimed at another individual or group, he stated that he did not think that his comments about his car were “that bad” and reiterated his belief that the punishment given had been “ridiculous.”
“Yeah, not everywhere now. Nowadays. But, I mean, honestly, like, I think what I said wasn’t that bad.
“And, of course, I get if you aim it at someone, I think that’s bad, of course. Actually, of course, emotions can run high, but that’s still not okay.
“I understand that, but I felt like it was quite, yeah, like I said, ridiculous what was given to me.”
The Dutchman admitted that he felt supported by the other Formula One drivers, stating that while some were more vocal in their support than others, there was a general, shared opinion of the situation.
“Yeah, but of course, some speak out a bit more than others. But I think in general, yeah, it’s quite clear what everyone thinks.”
Verstappen also used his impromptu media session to address questions related to his improved qualifying performance, particularly as it compared to his performance during Friday’s practice sessions. He stated that it had been difficult to improve the car’s driveability to the point where he was able to perform as well as he had during qualifying but acknowledged that the team had taken “good steps” and made “good progress.”
“Yeah, it’s been difficult, but I think as a team we stayed calm, and we just made good progress and good steps. So, the car was a lot more drivable.”
While he acknowledged that the RB20 was still far from perfect, he admitted that it had been a long time since he had been so comfortable in the car, especially around a track where, historically, he had been weak. He stated that he saw this as an optimistic sign for the coming races.”
“I mean, I don’t say it was perfect, but it’s been a long time that I felt like this in the car. And especially on a track that is very weak for us normally to be P2, I think it’s very good and gives me a lot of hope also for the coming races.”
He identified both the lessons learned from his disappointing performance during the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix and learning from the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix as contributors to his improved performance and his optimism going into Sunday’s race.
“I think both of them combined, yeah.”
When asked if he expected to be called in to see the Stewards as a consequence of his behaviour during the official conference, Verstappen replied that he believed that he would be alright as he had answered the questions.
“Well, I answer, you have to answer, right?
“I didn’t do anything weird, so I think it’s alright, yeah.”
