Max Verstappen more or less will continue his impasse with the FIA after nothing was discussed, as George Russell revealed of a public letter to come before Mexico GP.
The lack of ‘talk’ from Red Bull’s Verstappen will continue in F1 US GP as well, after nothing was discussed between the two parties after his show in Singapore. The Dutchman isn’t to change his stance. He also reflected on what FIA steward Johnny Herbert said regarding kids watching drivers swear in defence of the punishment.
Verstappen is casual about the situation as such and is up for discussions with the FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem if need be. Mercedes’ Russell, meanwhile, revealed about a potential letter that the F1 drivers will present – as part of GPDA’s efforts – to the public about this latest situation.
They have been discussing about the topic in their group chat and have decided to write a collective letter as of now to showcase their unity and view on the matter. Lewis Hamilton too concurred with his teammate about drivers’ chat.
Here’s what they said –
Verstappen: “I haven’t heard anything (from the FIA), so for me it doesn’t change anything. I prefer of course to talk less, so it’s fine anyway for me. I am always open for a chat. But from my side it is not that I am the one who has to reach out. I just live my life. I just continue, nothing changes. That is in general the world in which we live in, right? A lot of stuff is like that. This particular scenario, yes, it’s very unnecessary. Of course I know you can’t generally swear but it’s more about when you insult someone. Then you hear comments like, ‘Yeah but you don’t want kids seeing that.’
“But when I was five years old, I never watched a press conference in my life anyway. And at school you hear way worse things than that. Because you grow up with kids and you’re a bit of a rebel, so you always say bad stuff. That’s just how life is. They want you to set an example. Yeah, sure. I don’t think they should make such a big deal about it. At the end of the day, everyone has their own opinion, but it is quite clear that, like I said already it was silly stuff. I am always open for a chat [with Ben Sulayem], but from my side at the moment it is not that I am the one who has to reach out with this stuff.”
Russell: “Yeah, definitely between the drivers, a lot have spoken regarding swearing. It does seem a little bit silly that it has come to this. I mean, we’ve yet to speak with the FIA, but we hope to do so probably next week, maybe in Mexico. But collectively, we’re all on the same page. I think next week, we’ll probably formally put something towards you guys to read from the drivers as a united whole. I think generally speaking, we don’t want to be taking away the heat of the moment, emotions that drivers show during a race.
“I think it is down to maybe the broadcaster, when it comes to the race, to choose if they want to broadcast that or not. It is very challenging for the drivers when you have a microphone, you’re talking with your team, you’re in the middle of battle. But equally if it’s in an environment like this [a press session], maybe we have a duty just to be conscious of our words. As I said, I think next week we’ll probably collectively have maybe a letter or something together just to share with everyone.”
Hamilton: “Amongst the drivers, we have spoken about it, I am sure we will talk about it in the drivers’ briefing, but nothing in particular. I think even for Formula 1, they probably know it wasn’t a great look and they’re probably looking at figuring something else out moving forward.”
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