Helmut Marko Blasts FIA For 'Double Standards' Amid Max Verstappen Controversy

Helmut Marko criticizes the FIA for punishing Max Verstappen's language.

Oct 23, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Helmut Marko of Red Bull Racing Team holds up the World Constructors' Champions trophy after the running of the U.S. Grand Prix F1 race at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has accused the FIA of "double standards" amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Max Verstappen’s punishment for using inappropriate language during a press conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

The incident occurred at the Thursday press conference ahead of the race weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where the Red Bull driver used the f-word to describe the issues with the RB20. As a result, the FIA ordered him to complete a day of community service.

Verstappen’s response was to adopt a tight-lipped approach in subsequent media engagements, opting to hold his own discussions with the press outside the FIA press conferences. Marko's main contention hinges on the comparison to language often heard in the Netflix series 'Drive to Survive.' Marko noted that Verstappen's use of the word targeted an inanimate object—a car—rather than a person. He explained to Formel.de:

“There are double standards.

“What’s more, he [Verstappen] wasn’t talking about a person, he was talking about the car, in other words an object, and in a flippant way.

“Okay, maybe in an afternoon press conference. If everything is handled so strictly, it will be handled differently in future. But it’s clearly exaggerated.”
[Translated by Motorsport Week]

The three-time champion explained to the media following the punishment that it is this sort of punishment that makes him consider retiring from Formula 1 more. He explained, as previously reported by Sports Illustrated:

"For sure. Yeah. I mean, these kinds of things definitely decide my future as well.

"When you can't be yourself, you have to deal with these kinds of silly things... I think now, I'm at a stage of my career that I 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 have accomplished all that, winning championships and races, then you want to just have a good time as well.

"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."

Acknowledging these comments, Marko insisted that Verstappen should be "taken seriously." He added:

“Max has to be taken seriously.

“We spoke at length on the phone. Max has achieved a great deal, but it’s important for him to have fun and enjoy the whole sport.

“If that is increasingly spoilt for him, then his character is… If he says, ‘OK, that’s it’, then he means it.

“But I don’t hope that the current situation will really cause him to retire any time soon.”