Verstappen holds talks with FIA president - report

Max Verstappen and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem have held talks ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, Dutch media have reported.

The new four-time world champion and FIA president spoke at the Lusail circuit after the Verstappen camp reached out to the former rally driver for talks, de Telegraaf has reported.

Verstappen recently found himself in hot water with the FIA for swearing in the pre-Singapore press conference after Ben Sulayem asked for drivers to reduce the amount of swearing. 

For that, Verstappen received a punishment akin to community service, with the Red Bull driver then effectively boycotting the rest of the press conferences at Marina Bay by giving short answers to questions, before holding impromptu media debriefs in the paddock. 

The FIA has also lost a significant number of senior personnel in recent weeks, with race director Niels Wittich being removed from his post after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the immediate reasons behind this still unclear.

Coming into the Qatar weekend, new F2 race director Janette Tan was removed from her post before even overseeing the support series, with senior F1 steward Tim Mayer also removed - with the American claiming he was sacked via a text message from one of Ben Sulayem's assistants.

The talks, long-planned, were not believed to be in response to Verstappen's stripping of pole position for the Qatar GP after stewards found he had driven unnecessarily slowly in Q3 and impeded George Russell - who inherited pole from the Dutchman after he was given a one-place grid penalty.