P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Max Verstappen and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem have sat down for talks ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Dutch media have reported that Max Verstappen and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem held talks before the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail circuit, following Verstappen’s incident of swearing in a previous press conference. Verstappen had reached out to Ben Sulayem for a discussion, as reported by de Telegraaf. The FIA experienced some significant personnel changes recently, such as removing race director Niels Wittich after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and dismissing new F2 race director Janette Tan before overseeing the support series. Additionally, senior F1 steward Tim Mayer claimed he was sacked via a text message from one of Ben Sulayem’s assistants. Despite facing penalties and controversies, the talks between Verstappen and Ben Sulayem were planned beforehand and not a direct response to Verstappen losing pole position at the Qatar GP due to impeding George Russell in Q3.
