At the Singapore Grand Prix weekend two weeks ago, the FIA imposed a community service penalty on Verstappen for using offensive language in an official press conference while referring with the f-world to his Red Bull car's performance.

This action came as part of a broader initiative by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to tighten restrictions on inappropriate language in broadcasts claiming that ‘F1 drivers are not rappers’, a move FIA had already been implementing and now uses to set an example with the three-time world champion.

In response to the punishment, Verstappen staged a protest throughout the weekend by highly limiting his responses during FIA press conferences and holding his own media sessions outside the official room.

During these gatherings for reporters, he hinted that the FIA's policies are diminishing his enjoyment of racing in Formula 1 and suggested that they may lead him to leave the sport sooner than expected, despite the end of his contract being 2028.

"I'm at a stage of my career where I don't want to be dealing with this all the time. It's really tiring," said the Dutchman quoted by Motorsport.com.

"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. 

"If you have to deal with all these kinds of silly things: for me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that's for sure."

Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko then raised warnings regarding Verstappen’s words as he thinks that the Dutchman has to be taken seriously.

"You have to take Max seriously," Marko told Motorsport-Total.

"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: 'Okay, that's it.'

"He means it seriously, but I hope that the current situation won't really cause him to retire soon."

Marko also criticized the sport for its double standards, noting the presence of swearing in Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, which has contributed significantly to F1’s popularity, especially in the United States.

"That's not understandable and there are double standards," he added.

"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.

"Okay, maybe in an afternoon press conference, if it's all going to be handled so strictly you'll just take a different approach in the future. But it's clearly over the top."

With six races remaining of the 2024 season, Max Verstappen is currently leading the Driver’s Championship by 52 points ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who will try to steal the fourth consecutive world championship from the Red Bull driver.