Could Max Verstappen Really Walk Away From Formula 1?

Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen's lead in the drivers' standings by a further seven points on Sunday in Singapore, but it was events off the track that seemed to occupy the Dutchman's mind.

The three-time world champion cut a frustrated figure throughout the weekend and in the post-race press conference admitted he could quit the sport.

For once, however, Verstappen's source of frustration was not Red Bull's lack of balance, nor finishing second to Norris, who now trails him by 52 points with six races left .

Instead the 26-year-old opened fire against the FIA, world motorsport's governing body, and their hard line stance when it comes to drivers swearing.

On Thursday, Verstappen dismissed the approach as too sensitive after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem asked drivers to rein in their language and called for Formula One Management to avoid broadcasting radio messages that contain swearing.

The Dutchman was subsequently punished for using the F-word to describe Red Bull's performances and on Sunday made clear his patience was wearing thin.

"These kinds of things definitely decide my future as well, when you can't be yourself or you have to deal with these kinds of silly things," he said.

"Now I am at the stage of my career where you don't want to be dealing with this all the time. It's really tiring.

"For me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that's for sure."

Could Verstappen walk away from Formula 1?

He then elaborated further, suggesting it would "not be a problem" to walk away from the sport.

"I don't know how seriously they will take that kind of stuff but for me, at one point, when it's enough, it's enough," he said.

"We'll see. Everything will go on, I have no doubt. It's not a problem because Formula 1 will go on without me, but it's also not a problem for me. So it's how it is."

Speaking to Autosport last week, Ben Sulayem outlined FIA's desire to eradicate colourful language from the sport.

"We're not rappers, you know," he said.

"They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That's them, and we are [us]."

Radio communications between drivers and their pit walls are vetted by Formula 1, which delays their broadcast to allow for the bleeping of swear words. Offensive words are also blurred out in the graphics when sharing radio messages.

Verstappen, however, questioned why the FIA wanted to pursue such a trivial matter.

"You will swear anyway," he said in his pre-race press conference on Thursday, when he then swore and was handed a day's community service as a punishment.

"If it's not in this room maybe somewhere else. Everyone swears. Some people a bit more than others. It also depends a bit what language you speak. Of course, abuse is something else.

"You have to probably limit it or have a bit of a delay that you can censor out a few things. That will help a lot more than putting bans on drivers because for example I couldn't even say the F-word."

Why Verstappen has boycotted press conferences

Verstappen reacted to his ban by delivering monosyllabic answers to the journalists in the post-qualifying press conference on Saturday and in the post-race press conference on Sunday.

On both occasions, he made clear he would speak at length with the press outside the press conference room.

Once he did, the Dutchman more or less explicitly accused the FIA of sucking the joy out of the sport.

"You want to just have a good time as well," he said.

"Everyone is pushing to the limit. Everyone in this battle, even at the back of the grid. But if you have to deal with all these kind of silly things: for me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that's for sure."

Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth in Singapore, and Norris both dismissed the FIA's stance, with the former calling out Ben Sulayem for using language "with a racial element".

Dismissing Verstappen's stance as grandstanding would be naive and wide of the mark.

It is not the first time the Dutchman, who has publicly voiced his displeasure with the commercial events surrounding races in Miami and Las Vegas, has threatened to quit Formula 1.

In 2022, he suggested he could leave the sport once his $54m-a-year contract with Red Bull runs out in 2028.

During the Australian Grand Prix in April, he reiterated the point, hinting he could walk away if Formula 1 introduced more sprint races in the future from its current total of six.

Verstappen may think otherwise, but losing the Dutchman would be a huge blow for Formula 1.