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Verstappen addresses recent FIA vacancies: 'Not ideal people are leaving'
- Jeroen Immink
Max Verstappen has reacted to the departure of some people at the FIA after capturing his fourth Formula 1 world title. The Red Bull Racing driver - whose fifth-place finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix sealed the F1 drivers' championship - describes the vacancy as "not ideal".
Earlier this Thursday, it was announced that FIA steward Tim Mayer had been sacked by FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem. In the process, race director Niels Wittich had previously been sacked, even though he had only briefly taken office as Michael Masi's successor.
Verstappen: 'I don't think it's ideal'
At the Qatar Grand Prix, Verstappen commented to the media - including GPblog - on the course of events at the FIA. "I didn't even know [that] someone else left right? Again. I didn't even know. I don't follow F1 news. I think that's better anyway," Verstappen said.
"Well, I think even for them, of course, it's not ideal, right, with people leaving. It just depends on who you get back for it. Who's going to take over a role? That's also another thing," the Dutchman added.
Verstappen praises new race director
In Qatar, Verstappen joined the press later than planned as the drivers had a drivers' meeting. Verstappen was asked if the drivers had discussed how to deal with swearing while at the meeting: "No, we haven't talked about that. This is just pure driving-related stuff, which I think is way more important anyway to focus on," the Dutchman said about that.
About the new race director - Rui Marques - Verstappen had words of praise. The Portuguese man replaced the sacked Wittich a week ago: "I liked that he was very open during the first meeting. And that's how it should be. Just being able to communicate with each other and being open to ideas. We are not stupid. He's not stupid. He has a lot of experience. So I think it's been a great start and I hope that it will continue like that," concluded Verstappen.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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