"Pls dont ban him FIA": Fans react to Max Verstappen jokingly showing the middle finger to someone in the pitlane

Before the start of the 2025 F1 season, the FIA inducted a new ruling that put forth severe punishments for swearing, and Max Verstappen could be the first one to face such a penalty. At the pre-season testing in Bahrain, the Dutchman showed the middle finger while driving the Red Bull RB21 on the pit road, and the fans urged the FIA to not ban Verstappen for his actions.

Verstappen had a feud with the FIA last year for swearing at a press conference during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. He was ordered to do a single day of community service for his offence.

While the GPDA has asserted its stance against such provisions, the FIA doubled down on the clampdown and introduced stringent punishments for such instances during the 2025 season. Verstappen could be the first one to bite the bullet as he flipped the bird to someone on the pit road during Day 3 of pre-season testing in the morning session:

Fans reacted and took a dig at FIA's stringent rules on swearing ahead of the 2025 season:

"Pls dont ban him @fia."

"At this rate he won't race a lot this season," one wrote.

"Max wants to be banned so badly," another said.

Here are more reactions.

"He's gonna end up with 0 points for the points deducation he will be getting," a fan replied.

"He's probably looking for a race ban after seeing how the car performs," another posted.

"He is about to get a five race ban. Pray for him," yet another commented.

Max Verstappen won nine races last year but had a woeful middle part of the season as Red Bull slumped in performance.

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Max Verstappen is happy with the direction Red Bull is working in

Max Vertsappen (L), Jos Verstappen, and Christian Horner (R) at the Formula 1 Testing in Bahrain - Day 1 - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen had been vocal about the woeful RB20 and urged the Austrian giant to curb the issues affecting him. Though he was able to defend his reign in the drivers' championship, Red Bull had to get things sorted ahead of the 2025 season.

The 27-year-old shared his first impressions after driving the RB21 around the Bahrain International Circuit and said via Crash.net:

"It can’t be worse than last year. So I think the direction that we are working into is good. We just need to follow that and see how much we can extract. At the moment, it’s really early days - a lot of things we are still discussing and wanting to improve."

Team supremo Christian Horner added how the CFD data and on-track testing correlate, which can be confidence-inducing:

"At the moment, the data ties in with our simulations. We have understood some of the limitations of RB20 and the team have worked hard to try and address those... Both drivers are now reporting that it is easier to drive."

Max Verstappen will be entering his 11th season in F1 and aims to win his fifth drivers' title in a row.