Max Verstappen penalty announced by FIA for swearing at the press conference

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been penalized by the FIA for swearing at a recent press conference. The Dutchman is now obliged to perform 'some work of public interest' as a penalty.

Although Verstappen is still leading the 2024 drivers' standings (59 points ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris), he has not been able to secure a win in the past seven races. The general lack of performance from Red Bull Racing's RB20 race car in the past few months has been a source of frustration for the 3x F1 world champion.

Further amplifying the issue was the race weekend in Azerbaijan, where Verstappen was unable to push the car to its limit, thereby ending the race in fifth place (promoted two places after the Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crash on lap 50). During the mandatory press conference in Singapore, Verstappen vented his frustration by using what is considered 'rude' or 'coarse' language by the FIA.

While the Red Bull driver claimed that the word used is ordinary in English speech, it is still considered as 'misconduct' under Article 20 of the International Sporting Code and is a breach of Article 12.2.1.k. The sanctioning body has penalized Verstappen accordingly, asking the world champion to perform some form of public service.

The aforementioned news was shared on X by a Formula 1 fan page. Here's a look at the post, captioned:

🚨 | BREAKING: Max Verstappen is oblidged to "accomplish some work of public interest" after swearing in the FIA press conference yesterday.

Despite the odds, Max Verstappen will likely be looking at maximizing his result at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and extending his lead over his rivals Norris and Charles Leclerc.

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"I’m confident that we can do a better job than last year" - Max Verstappen sets realistic target for Singapore Grand Prix weekend

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have struggled at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in the past few years. The highest the Dutchman has finished in Singapore is the second-place finish in the 2018 season.

Although the Austrian team's 2024 contender has struggled over bumps and kerbs at street races, Verstappen is feeling positive about the car's setup after the race in Baku. He spoke about the realistic target set for the Singapore Grand Prix during the mandatory media interaction.

"It’s just our car is generally not very good on bumps and kerbs, and that’s of course what we have around here, so we need to try and stabilize that a bit....But, putting a number on it, I don’t know where to start. I’m confident that we can do a better job than last year, but at the same time the competition has improved quite a bit, naturally. I’m definitely targeting Q3, and we’ll see where we end up,” Verstappen said.

For reference, the 3x F1 world champion managed to finish seventh and fifth in Singapore during the 2022 and 2023 seasons respectively.