Hamilton And Norris Back Verstappen In Boycotting 'Joke' FIA Penalty

Saturday, 21 September 2024 at 17:48

Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris expressed support for Max Verstappen, who boycotted FIA's post-qualifying press conference.

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen qualified on the front row (P2) for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, which was much better than he expected after initial big struggles in practice sessions.

However, he didn't elaborate on his thoughts during the post-qualifying FIA press conference and gave only very short responses to each question, which is his way of protesting the penalty he was imposed earlier this weekend.

FIA has lately been trying to prevent drivers from using offensive language and has controversially penalized the Dutchman for using an F-word during the Thursday press conference at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The penalty the triple World Champion must pay is "Obligation to accomplish some work of public interest."

When fellow F1 drivers Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton were asked what they thought about Max Verstappen's penalty, they responded:

"I think it's pretty unfair, I don't agree with any of it."

— Lando Norris

"I think it's a bit of a joke, to be honest. This is the pinnacle of the sport. Mistakes are made. I certainly wouldn't be doing it, and I hope Max doesn't do it."

— Lewis Hamilton

After boycotting the official FIA press conference, the Red Bull Racing driver held his own mini-conference outside, where he elaborated on his feelings about the penalty that he was given:

"It's just ridiculous to get a penalty for these kind of things. I think when you insult someone, that's pretty clear, I didn't even aim other person. It's a slip of the tongue moment."

"Honestly, this is not even [a big deal] to the stewards because they are just bound to a rule book. I actually had a great chat with them about it, they are very understanding, but it's in the rules and they have to apply something. For me, it's not the right way to go forward in our sport."