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Max Verstappen continued to protest about the community service order received for swearing in Singapore, saying it could impact his future in Formula 1.
Verstappen was slapped with a "obligation to accomplish some work of public interest" after the stewards found him in breach of the FIA's International Sporting Code for "misconduct".
He was penalised for calling his RB20 "f***ed" when discussing last week’s Baku performance in the pre-event Singapore Grand Prix FIA press conference on Thursday.
Verstappen was evidently unimpressed with the punishment when he staged what was effectively a protest in the post-qualifying conference on Saturday - offering "no comment" to most questions and insisting he'd answer follow-up questions out of the conference, rather than within it.
He treated Sunday's post-race conference more ordinarily, but still gave only brief answers to questions from host Tom Clarkson and the attending media.
That didn't mark the end of his protest as he still did a bonus session with the media after, in which he voiced his ongoing displeasure about the punishment and admitted it will impact his F1 future.
'These things decide my future'
When asked if this saga would play into his already uncertain long-term F1 future, Verstappen replied: "I mean, these kind of things definitely decide my future as well.
"If you can't be yourself or you have to deal with these kinds of silly things. I'm now at the stage of my career that you 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've 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 paddock, even at the back of the grid. But if you have to deal with all these kinds of silly things, for me that is not a way of continuing in this sport, that's for sure."
Verstappen said he'll take the upcoming break to reflect on whether he maintains the protest for the rest of the season.
"I will always be myself. I will not, because of that, change how I am in my life, anyway, but also how I'm operating here," Verstappen said when asked if a conversation with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem would change things.
"At the end of the day, I don't know how serious they [the FIA} will take that kind of stuff.
"But for me of course at one point when it's enough it's enough. And we'll see. Racing will go on, F1 will go on, also without me.
"It's not a problem - it's also not a problem for me. It's how it is."
Unfair treatment
Verstappen ensured he did enough in both Saturday and Sunday's conferences to avoid further punishment from the FIA. The only requirement is for drivers to attend and offer any answer to the questions posed.
"For me personally, there is of course absolutely no desire to then give normal answers there, when you get treated like that," Verstappen explained.
"I never really felt like I had a bad relationship with them. Even this year I did voluntary work with, like, junior stewards, I gave them like a half an hour interview, I tried to also help out, they have little favours over there.
"I'm not too difficult a person, to say no, like 'OK, sure, if that's what you guys like, I like to help out'.
“And then you get treated like that. That's just not how it works.
"For me it's just - it was quite straightforward. I know that I have to answer, it doesn't say how long you have to answer."
Verstappen fears punishments such as his risk limiting the personalities of the F1 drivers.
"I know of course you can't insult people, that is quite straightforward, I think no one really wants to do that," Verstappen added.
"It's all a bit too soft, really. And honestly it's super silly, what we're dealing with.
"If you can't really be yourself to the fullest, then it's better not to speak.
"But that's what no one wants, because then you become a robot, and that's not how you should be going about it in this sport."
Verstappen raised the matter with the Grand Prix Drivers Association and said "everyone was laughing, like 'what the hell is that?' basically. It is very, very silly".
Lewis Hamilton suggested he'd refuse to do the community service if he was in Verstappen's position while expressing sympathy for Verstappen's situation on Saturday.
"He's also not the one being punished!" Verstappen pointed out when Hamilton's comment was put to him.
"At the moment I am not even thinking about that ruling. I'm just focused on the performance, what we've got to do for Austin and beyond.
"That's what I'm thinking about. I shouldn't waste any energy on it, actually, because it's just very silly."
After being asked whether the drivers should protest, he swerved and instead branded the €25,000 fine Carlos Sainz received for crossing the track after crashing his Ferrari in qualifying as "super silly".
"It's quite safe, and he knows what he's doing, we're not stupid," Verstappen said.
"These kinds of things. Like, when I saw it, even like getting 'noted' [by the stewards], I'm like 'what are we doing?'."
