Max Verstappen left ‘so happy’ with FIA community service order

Red Bull's Max Verstappen smiling
Max Verstappen was apparently over the moon when informed of what his FIA punishment for swearing would entail.
That is according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who claims Verstappen was “so happy” when they had a chat at the Qatar GP and he was told that he would be helping out with grassroots motorsport in Rwanda, where the end-of-season FIA Prize Giving Gala will take place on 13 December.
Max Verstappen ‘so happy’ with FIA punishment
The punishment came after Verstappen used the term “f***ed” in reference to his Red Bull RB20 when speaking in an FIA press conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the stewards ordering Verstappen to complete some “work of public interest” as a result, which caused Verstappen to boycott the FIA press conferences which followed at that race weekend.
However, with Verstappen now aware of what his community service will involve and having spoken to Ben Sulayem, the Red Bull racer is apparently perfectly content.
“It’s a funny story – we said we need clean verbal language all the time,” Ben Sulayem told RwandaTV.
“And of course, very young, he said one word and then they penalised him with community service.
“So I met him in Qatar and I said, ‘Max, don’t worry. What you are going to do is you are going to encourage and inspire young girls and boys who want to go into motorsport. And you will do that and that is your community service, when you come and receive your trophy in Rwanda’.
“And he was so happy.
“So this is a link, because whatever you do… I was a champion in my area in the Middle East for 20 years, but the people who made me are also the fans.
“And the fans don’t come from far away and it’s only by the internet and by social media. The fan is when you live [with] them, when you sit with them, when you feel them.
“So it is a big part of the duty that a champion, an ambassador, has to give back to society. And what is better, when we talk about diversity, than him being here?
“And he was so happy by the way about it, and so pleased. He was so happy that when he is here, he will sit with the upcoming kids, girls and boys, to inspire them.”
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Verstappen had something of a rocky relationship with the FIA stewards on his way to winning a fourth straight World title amid accusations of British bias in the sport, with F1 steward Johnny Herbert finding himself getting caught up in that.
And Verstappen received the attention of the stewards once more at the Abu Dhabi season finale, picking up a 10-second penalty and two penalty points for his FIA Super Licence after a first-corner collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
That takes Verstappen to eight points, with 12 in a 12-month period meaning a race ban, leading to Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko urging caution and warning of “certain stewards” involved.
“He got two points again and is now on eight. We have to be careful,” Marko told Sky Deutschland.
“Certain stewards give more severe punishments, but that’s a problem that everyone has and it was mentioned that more consistency would be better.”
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