Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ standings by a further seven points on Sunday in Singapore, but it was events off the track that seemed to occupy the Dutchman’s mind.
The three-time world champion cut a frustrated figure throughout the weekend and in the post-race press conference admitted he could quit the sport.
For once, however, Verstappen’s source of frustration was not Red Bull’s lack of balance, nor finishing second to Norris, who now trails him by 52 points with six races left.
Instead the 26-year-old opened fire against the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body, and their hard line stance when it comes to drivers swearing.
On Thursday, Verstappen dismissed the approach as too sensitive after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem asked drivers to rein in their language and called for Formula One Management to avoid broadcasting radio messages that contain swearing.
The Dutchman was subsequently punished for using the F-word to describe Red Bull’s performances and on Sunday made 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.”
Could Verstappen walk away from Formula 1?
He then elaborated further, suggesting it would “not be a problem” to walk away from the sport.
“I don’t know how seriously they will take that kind of stuff but for me, at one point, when it’s enough, it’s enough,” he said.
“We’ll see. Everything will go on, I have no doubt. It’s not a problem because Formula 1 will go on without me, but it’s also not a problem for me. So it’s how it is.”
Speaking to Autosport last week, Ben Sulayem outlined FIA’s desire to eradicate colourful language from the sport.
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