FIA might actually fine Max Verstappen for getting sick

2025 Formula 1 world championship runner-up Max Verstappen sent a video message to newly crowned world champion Lando Norris and constructor champions McLaren, as he was unable to attend the FIA Awards ceremony in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Verstappen, who was required to attend the event as a top three finisher in the world championship standings, came down with an illness and was instructed by his doctor not to travel for the ceremony.

As a result, the 28-year-old Dutchman now faces a potential fine from the FIA.

Max Verstappen facing possible FIA fine

As expected, the British media have compared Verstappen's absence to Lewis Hamilton's absence in 2021, which came not because Hamilton was sick but because he didn't feel like going after the manner in way he lost the world championship on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He was fined €50,000 for that absence.

Of course, at the time, they viewed Hamilton's absence as acceptable, and even from a third-party viewpoint as a fellow human being, you could definitely understand Hamilton's heartbreak and dejection after what went down and how it went down.

But even though Formula 1 literally changed the rulebook that offseason, confirming that what race director Michael Masi did, controversial as it may have been at the time, was technically allowed, they viewed Hamilton as having been robbed, so him blowing off the ceremony was supposedly acceptable.

Never mind the fact that Verstappen did what any other Formula 1 driver would have done, given the circumstances, and won the race, clinching the first of his four consecutive world championships. He has been their public enemy number one ever since, to the point where they have literally and shamelessly made up stories about him.

But now Verstappen missing the same event with an illness is supposedly not acceptable.

And suddenly Hamilton's absence, viewed as totally cool at the time, is an accurate comparison of unacceptable behavior. Got it.

I guess if the FIA, known to treat Formula 1 drivers like preschoolers already by fining them for swearing, really want to play the part, they could treat Verstappen like a kindergartner and make him turn up with a doctor's note and an excuse blank the next time he comes to class.

By the way, weren't we arbitrarily mandating two-bit masks for completely healthy drivers and banning non-vaccinated folks from the paddock only a couple years ago? Why would we suddenly want someone to show up to a massive ceremony while battling an illness?

That would certainly send a message that nobody wants to receive.

At the end of the day, €50,000 means nothing to Verstappen; he's making $55 million per year, and that's without endorsements. He's also potentially in line for a salary more than triple that if he leaves Red Bull post-2026.

If the FIA really sink that low, he'll probably double it and send another €50,000 to charity. It's the principle of the thing. Yes, he was required to be there, but extenuating circumstances sometimes get in the way. And let's not pretend that the Formula 1 drivers we as fans put on a pedestal aren't humans as well.