Having dropped a hint of doubt over his Formula 1 future after getting caught up in the FIA swearing clampdown, Max Verstappen can be trusted to walk out.
That is the opinion of six-time F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher, who believes the FIA faces a realistic threat of the reigning three-time F1 World Champion calling it quits should the swearing row between driver and governing body escalate further.
Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem called for a clampdown on fruity language in Formula 1, as “we have to differentiate between our sport and rap music.” Verstappen became the first victim of said clampdown after swearing in the pre-race weekend press conference.
Ordered to carry out “some work of public interest” as punishment – one which former title rival Lewis Hamilton urged him to ignore – Verstappen responded by keeping his answers very short in the FIA press conferences which followed, holding his own media briefings outside of the room.
But, is this spat enough to influence Verstappen’s future in Formula 1?
“Oh, for sure,” he confirmed to the media in Singapore.
“Yeah. I mean, 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.
“I think now, I’m at the stage of my career that you don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring, you know?
“Of course, it’s great to have success and win races, but once you have accomplished all that, winning championships and races, and then you want to just have a good time as well.
“Of course, everyone is pushing to the limit, everyone in this battle, even at the back of the grid. But if you have to deal with all these kind of silly things, for me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that’s for sure.”
And Schumacher thinks the FIA would be wise to believe what Verstappen is saying.
“I trust Max to stop if this escalates because he is simply independent,” Schumacher told Sky Germany.
“He has enough money. He has often spoken about the fact that he won’t be in Formula 1 forever. So I wouldn’t rule it out.”
However, claiming that the FIA president will not be “clever enough” to revoke Verstappen’s community service, Schumacher is not on the same wavelength as Hamilton and urges Verstappen to go along with it.
“You hear that Max feels he’s been treated unfairly,” said Schumacher. “We all know it: you get stubborn and say: ‘No, I won’t accept that’. But I don’t think he has a chance at the end of the day.
“On the other hand, I wouldn’t trust Ben Sulayem to be clever enough to reverse the decision and declare it a warning. So if I were Max, I’d make a virtue of necessity and choose my favourite project and maybe help children or a cause by supporting it. Then I think the cow will be off the ice.”
Verstappen – as he chases a fourth successive World Championship – leads the Drivers’ standings by 52 points over the pursuing Lando Norris, with six rounds of the F1 2024 campaign remaining.
