Why Verstappen said almost nothing during F1 press conference in Austria

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen caused a stir with a press conference that was dominated by the words “no comment.” To every question about the FIA, the published racing guidelines, and the penalty points system in Formula 1, the Dutchman gave the shortest answers possible. “I’m not going to comment on that. I can’t risk getting another penalty point.”

When asked once again whether Verstappen would change his on-track approach since he’s just one point away from a race suspension, he replied: “You’re joking? Is this like a trap? I’m getting this question every single time, every weekend. I have nothing to add.”

“I’m not allowed to be critical”

Later during the media day in Spielberg, Verstappen was much more talkative with Dutch media representatives in the Red Bull hospitality. The reigning world champion explained that his performance in the FIA press conference stemmed from two reasons. In his view, the questions were just a repetition of F1’s media day two weeks ago in Montreal, and Verstappen feels he can no longer be critical of the FIA or anything related to it.

“It was a great press conference, once again… I’m really enjoying it,” Verstappen responded cynically when asked about the FIA press conference in Austria. Noting that the questions were similar to the previous race weekends, Verstappen replied: “Yes, and that’s why I didn’t say much. It makes my life a bit easier. I just say nothing or ‘no comment,’ and then that’s the end of it.”

Asked by Autosport whether that’s the main reason or whether Verstappen feels he must be overly cautious in an FIA setting, the Dutchman replied: “Definitely the latter. We all know that by now. There are some questions that you just don’t need to answer, even if you do have an opinion.” Verstappen does indeed have strong opinions – for example about the lack of consistency in handing out penalty points – but no longer shares them with the outside world to avoid consequences: “I’m just not allowed to be critical.”

That even applies to his more informal chats with the Dutch press: “Here too, yeah. Because it still gets written down and people say, ‘Max said this, Max said that.’ They can even make a fuss over that.

“Everything can be interpreted as criticism and you can get punished for it. It’s clearly stated in the regulations. They can take it as ‘this is critical towards us,’ so then I’d rather say nothing anymore.”

When it was pointed out that other F1 drivers had spoken up on Thursday, saying the penalty points system doesn’t work in its current form, Verstappen laughed: “Well, then I’ll just let the other drivers say it!”

What exactly do the FIA rules say?

When Verstappen claims that the rule is clearly written down, he’s referring to a passage included in the FIA document released on Thursday. The guidelines for stewards on issuing penalties states that the following can be punished: “Any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motor sport and on the values defended by the FIA.”

It refers to Article 12.2.1.f of the International Sporting Code. As for the penalty, the FIA document states: “For an offence occurring in a controlled environment, a fine up to €5,000, depending on mitigating or aggravating circumstances. For very serious offences, more severe penalties under the ISC may be imposed.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

As the wording is fairly vague, Verstappen feels that all potential penalties are on the table, which is why he prefers to remain quiet. It’s worth noting that no F1 driver has yet received penalty points on his superlicence for critical remarks about FIA regulations.

Will there be a dialogue between Verstappen and the FIA?

Since the Singapore Grand Prix, Verstappen has said very little in FIA press conferences. The Red Bull driver was given community service for swearing during the media day press conference at that event and for the rest of that race weekend Verstappen held his own media sessions outside the FIA press conference room, mostly in the Red Bull hospitality area.

Since then, the Dutchman has remained tight-lipped in official FIA settings. Asked whether there has been any dialogue with the federation, Verstappen responded: “I think that might happen naturally at some point.” When suggested it might happen if Verstappen keeps this up long enough, the four-time world champion concluded: “Yeah, maybe it will.”