Max Verstappen’s WhatsApp submit about rift reveals F1 break has come at good time

F1 fans might be tearing their hair out over another break in the season, but it’s probably a blessing in disguise for a fuming Max Verstappen.

An unexpected autumn gap has arisen that’s as lengthy as the sport’s usual summer hiatus, with logistics of the calendar leaving no other option but a four-week break following last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

With Lando Norris nipping at his heels and shrinking his driver’s championship lead to a mere 52 points with six races and three sprints left, Verstappen and Red Bull can regroup before the run-in. It’s not been easy going for him off the track either.

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The three-time world champion got hit with a community service penalty by the FIA after swearing in their pre-race press conference on live TV. Throughout the rest of the weekend, he made a show of responding with either a single word or a flat-out “no comment”.

Verstappen also vented his frustration in the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) group chat, telling reporters: “I wrote in the GPDA [chat] the ruling, and everyone was almost laughing like, ‘what the hell is that’ basically. So, yeah, it is very, very silly.”

He even hinted, probably not in total seriousness, that if the powers that be keep clamping down on minor misdemeanours, he might bring forward his retirement. “These kind of things definitely decide my future,” he insisted.

“If you can’t be yourself or you have to deal with these silly things. I’m now at the stage of my career that you don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring. Of course it’s great to have success and win races.

“But once you’ve accomplished all of that, then you want to just have a good time as well. If you have to deal with all these kinds of silly things, for me that is not a way of continuing in this sport, that’s for sure.”

Heading straight into the United States GP this weekend could’ve escalated the situation even further at the Circuit of the Americas, but Verstappen instead now has time to cool off away from the paddock.

It’s a welcome breather for him, saying post-race: “I mean, let’s first take a break from it all, from F1 also in two weeks. At least two weeks, and go at it again in Austin. See where we’re at.”

The order for him to complete “work of public interest” does still hang over Verstappen, though. “At the moment I’m not even thinking about it,” he added.

“I’m just focused on the performance, what we are going to do for Austin and beyond. That’s what I’m thinking about and for me, I shouldn’t waste any energy on it actually because it’s just very silly.”