Max Verstappen won’t be punished for showing his middle finger while driving in pre-season testing despite the FIA’s tough new rules on swearing.
From this year, Formula 1 drivers risk huge fined and possible race bans and points deductions for their use of foul language. A change to the guidance given to stewards now specifies that swearing, among other infringements, now amounts to ‘misconduct’ from a competitor.
Verstappen, whose F-bomb in Singapore last year sparked the bad language row with the FIA, did not turn the air blue in Bahrain testing last week. But he was seen showing a middle finger from the cockpit of his Red Bull while driving through the pit lane.
The incident was caught by the camera mounted above his sitting position in the car and immediately sparked speculation that he could be punished. However, the FIA has now moved to confirm that the Dutchman will face no penalty for his action.
And in doing so, the governing body appears to have settled the debate over whether the rule would also be applied to drivers who swear while driving, as opposed to when they are in a press conference. “This happened on the field and is therefore different from an official interview setting,” a spokesperson confirmed.
Verstappen could do without getting on the wrong side of the FIA so early in the year. He already heads into the 2025 campaign with eight penalty points on his licence – if he reaches 12, that will trigger an automatic one-race ban.
And he has some way to go before the danger on that front begins to subside. The first of his current points to expire will do so on June 30 – exactly 12 months on from the two points he picked up for causing a collision with title rival Lando Norris in the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
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It was initially speculated that Verstappen’s middle finger in Bahrain was directed towards a photographer in the pit lane who might have been trying to take up-close images of the RB21 before reporting back to one of their rival teams.
However, it has since been confirmed that this was not the case. Instead, Verstappen is understood to have been showing the gesture to Formula 2 driver Luke Browning, who is a friend of the Red Bull racer.
Browning was in the pit lane in his capacity as a driver academy member and reserve driver for Williams. And the hand signal he received from Verstappen was nothing more than a greeting from one racer to another.
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