Brundle: 'Verstappen put his energy into wrong things in Singapore'

Martin Brundle believes that Max Verstappen is 'putting his energy into the wrong things' after his battle with the FIA at the Singapore Grand Prix. Many people have backed the Dutchman after he was given a community service penalty after swearing in Thursday's press conference, but the former F1 driver is not in Verstappen's corner 100%

Brundle sees Verstappen getting distracted

"I'm not sure why Max is allowing himself to get distracted and dragged into the swearing battle with the FIA," Brundle revealed in his column for Sky Sports. "It's wasted energy and serves no good purpose for him, but he still largely wouldn't answer questions in the press conference post-race," the Brit added.

Brundle also pointed out that Verstappen's role is a role model for people: "The drivers are not kids I accept, and we know they'll sometimes swear in an attempt to have radio messages not transmitted, and of course they will also say 'don't broadcast our radio calls if you don't like the language'. It may be street language, but they represent themselves, their families, their country, their team, global sponsors, F1 itself, and broadcasters worldwide."

"They are icons, champions, opinion formers, and they should think about the responsibility which comes with that privilege, especially with so many young fans watching. Nobody wants to take any energy, emotion, or freedom of speech out of it, but gratuitous swearing away from the heat of the moment is not necessary," Brundle concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink