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Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen on Carlos Sainz and his FIA fine

Verstappen backs Sainz and lashes out at "silly" FIA fine

Today at 19:30
  • Olly Darcy
  • Editor

Max Verstappen has backed fellow driver Carlos Sainz and lashed out at yet another FIA decision, branding it "silly". It has not been an enjoyable weekend for Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix despite a P2 finish on Sunday. But a community service penalty for swearing in Thursday's press conference meant he was extremely unhappy at the FIA all weekend.

Verstappen backs Sainz after huge fine

But Verstappen was not just unhappy with the FIA for his own penalty he received before the Grand Prix. In the final session of qualifying, Sainz crashed out at the final corner, and then the Spaniard walked across the track towards the pit lane and the garage. However, this was picked up by the FIA, and it resulted in the Spaniard being fined 25 thousand euros for the incident.

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Verstappen was, once again, displeased at the decision made by the FIA: "I think Carlos got a fine for crossing the track as well right? I mean what are we talking about? It's a red flag, you know cars are coming in, I think it's quite safe and he knows what he's doing. We're not stupid. Yeah, these kinds of things, when I saw it even like getting noted. My god, these kinds of things are just super silly," Verstappen revealed.

Verstappen was also asked if his love for F1 is waning, and the Dutchman's response was crystal clear: "For sure, yeah. I guess it's just this weekend that it happened, right? I just want to make sure that it doesn't continue to be like that."

This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink