Marko Responds To Verstappen’s ‘Not Diplomatic’ FIA Insult

Max Verstappen may have added to his troubles with the FIA during the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

It has now been confirmed that, for his community service penalty for using the ‘F-word’ in a recent FIA press conference, the quadruple world champion will meet with young Rwandan drivers later this week.

But the Red Bull driver, who was already scheduled to be in the African country to collect his world championship trophy, could now be in additional trouble.

When told on the radio about his 10 second penalty for crashing into Oscar Piastri on the first lap on Sunday, Verstappen replied: “Could we ask for 20 seconds?

“Stupid idiots.”

Many believe the FIA will now be considering additional penalties for insulting the F1 stewards. Explaining his reaction, the Dutchman said: “I tried to pull out of it, but we touched. Of course that’s my mistake.

“For me, the most important thing was to apologise to Oscar, because I had nothing to lose or gain and he’s also a friend of mine, so I don’t want another bad relationship going into the winter break.

“I went straight to Oscar as soon as I got out of the car. It was my mistake, but I expected maybe twenty seconds or thirty seconds, or a stop-and-go penalty or something even more,” Verstappen joked.

“Maybe I can talk about it with the FIA in Rwanda,” he laughed.

The situation means that, heading into 2025, Verstappen will spend about half of the new season with eight penalty points on his super license. Once he gets to 12, he will have to serve a one-race ban.

“Maybe I’ll make sure I’m on twelve when the baby is born,” Verstappen joked again. “Then I can go on paternity leave.

“I don’t understand these penalties anymore, but it’s fine. I’m not going to get angry about it, because it’s not worth my time. I’m just going to enjoy the holiday.”

When asked about Verstappen’s “stupid idiots” insult to the stewards, Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko admitted: “That wasn’t very diplomatic. But I also thought it was a case of ‘let them race’, especially as we are talking about the first lap.

“But he got two (penalty) points here and is now on eight, so we have to be careful. Certain stewards give more severe punishments, but that’s a problem that everyone has,” said the Austrian. “More consistency would be better.”

As for whether Verstappen should be penalised for insulting FIA officials, Marko answered: “It’s the emotions, and in the heat of the moment you usually don’t think very diplomatically. So maybe they shouldn’t broadcast everything.

“In football, not everyone has a microphone always in their mouth. And I don’t want to know what kind of comments they are making either.”

Finally, when asked what he is most looking forward to about the winter break, Verstappen joked: “Not driving this car again.

“Put it in the museum and don’t touch it again,” he added.