WATCH: Max Verstappen finishes his community work in Rwanda

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the head of the FIA, has disclosed that Max Verstappen was "so happy" to hear about his community duty. After being disciplined for using profanity during a formal FIA news conference in Singapore, Verstappen briefly abstained from participating in post-session interviews.

After the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA announced that Verstappen would be attending the FIA Prize Giving Gala in Rwanda as part of his community duty. There, the four-time Formula One champion will assist young athletes in advancing the grassroots growth of motorsport in Rwanda.

Ben Sulayem discussed in detail how he told Max Verstappen of his responsibilities in an interview with RwandaTV. "It's a funny story—we said we need clean verbal language all the time," Ben Sulayem said. "Of course, [he's very young] he said one word and then they penalised him with community service." "So I met him in Qatar, and I said, ‘Max, don't worry. What you are going to do is you are going to encourage and inspire young girls and boys who want to go into motorsports'.

Watch here the video:

Max doing his community service in Rwanda and testing the FIA Car

pic.twitter.com/ODzxnis703

— Ana 🦁 M4X ⭐️ (@maxvcalloway) December 13, 2024

Max Verstappen finished on sixth place

On his path to winning a fourth consecutive World title, Verstappen had a somewhat tense relationship with the FIA stewards due to allegations of British bias in the sport, which F1 steward Johnny Herbert found himself embroiled in. At the Abu Dhabi season finale, Verstappen caught the stewards' attention again when he collided with Oscar Piastri of McLaren in the first corner, earning him a 10-second penalty and two penalty points for his FIA Super Licence.

Max Verstappen now has eight points, and as 12 points in a 12-month period entails a race ban, Red Bull senior adviser Helmut Marko has called for prudence and warned of "certain stewards" involved. Verstappen defeated race winner Lando Norris by 63 points to win the Drivers' Championship after finishing sixth in Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, one position behind fierce rival George Russell.