Max Verstappen will miss the FIA’s end-of-season trophy presentation due to illness, Red Bull has confirmed.
Verstappen, who was supposed to attend as season runner-up, will not be there as Lando Norris collects the Formula 1 world championship trophy at the event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Friday.
Norris ended Verstappen’s run of four straight championships at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, finishing two points clear of the Red Bull driver.
Technically Verstappen was bound to attend the gala under the FIA sporting guidelines, which says Formula 1’s top three drivers’ championship finishers have to be there.
Lewis Hamilton was fined €50,000 for no-showing in 2021 after finishing runner-up to Verstappen at that year’s controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where race director Michael Masi ignored F1’s rulebook to force a Safety Car restart at the end of the race.
“He is unwell and will not be able to attend,” a Red Bull spokesperson told ESPN about Verstappen.
The FIA has not yet confirmed to ESPN whether Verstappen will also be fined for not attending.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri will attend Friday’s gala, having finished third, as will McLaren CEO Zak Brown and team boss Andrea Stella as the team is awarded the constructors’ championship trophy.
Although it is a Formula 1 trophy, the championship series is run by the governing FIA.
The FIA’s sporting code says trophies cannot be given out until the prize giving gala, where all the champions from FIA competitions gather.
