Red Bull Chief Warns Max Verstappen Could Quit Formula 1 Over FIA Row

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko believes Max Verstappen is serious about walking away from Formula 1 as the fallout from his row with FIA lingers on.

The three-time world champion made his frustration with world motorsport's governing body clear during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend last week.

"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."

Verstappen's frustration stemmed from FIA's hard line on drivers swearing.

The 27-year-old 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.

Verstappen was subsequently punished for using the F-word to describe Red Bull's performances and reacted to his ban by delivering monosyllabic answers during FIA press conferences over the weekend.

The Dutchman then made a point of speaking with journalists at length away from official settings and took aim at FIA, suggesting he could leave the sport.

Verstappen's words aren't an empty threat

Speaking to German publication Motorsport-Total , Marko warned Verstappen's words weren't an empty threat.

"You have to take Max seriously," he said.

"He has achieved a great deal, but it is important to him that he also enjoys the whole sport.

"If that is increasingly spoiled for him, then he is of a character that when he says, 'OK, that's it,' he means it seriously, but I hope that the current situation won't really cause him to retire soon."

The Dutchman has previously threatened to quit Formula 1 in 2022 and again in April and made clear his patience was wearing thin in Singapore.

"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."

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.

Marko also questioned FIA's approach after former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner became a star of Netflix's Drive to Survive series in part thanks to his colourful language.

"There are double standards," he said.

"And on top of that, Max didn't mean a person. He meant the car, an object, and he did it in a flippant way."

Verstappen questions FIA's stance

Speaking in Singapore, 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."

The Formula 1 season resumes on October 18 with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Verstappen leads Lando Norris by 52 points in the drivers' standings with six races left , while McLaren is top of the constructors' championship with 516 points, 41 ahead of Red Bull.

Verstappen last won a race in Barcelona, on June 23 but hasn't finished on top of the podium in the next eight races.