Verstappen holds long talks with FIA president before Qatar Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Mohammed Ben Sulayem had a constructive and mature conversation in Qatar. Reportedly, this came about at the initiative of the Verstappen camp. The two haven't had the best relationship in recent weeks, with the Dutchman openly criticising the FIA.

Several leading figures have left the governing body in recent months, voluntarily or not. Max Verstappen was very unhappy with the FIA's actions when he was given community service in Singapore for using the word 'f**k'.

The Grand Prix Drivers Association, headed by today's polesitter George Russell, released a statement on behalf of all F1 drivers addressing their dissatisfaction with the actions of the FIA and its president.

De Telegraaf reported on Sunday before the Qatar Grand Prix that Verstappen spoke to Ben Sulayem in his office for at least half an hour. GPblog has received confirmation that the conversation did indeed take place. The conversation was at the request of Verstappen's camp and it was said to have been a good and mature conversation. This conversation had already been planned before the Dutchman's grid penalty.

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