Max Verstappen FIA media absence confirmed at Canadian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen’s absence has been confirmed by the FIA for the one of their F1 media sessions at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

Prior to each race weekend, three scheduled press conferences take place on Thursday and Friday with the former dedicated to the drivers and the latter the team principals.

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Following a controversial move on George Russell last time out in Barcelona, Verstappen will be a hot topic during the media sessions in Canada.

However, the four-time world champion will be missing from Thursday's driver press conference after the FIA confirmed his absence in an announcement of the scheduled press conferences.

Instead, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli and Lance Stroll are amongst the drivers speaking on Thursday, with Fred Vasseur, Ayao Komatsu and James Vowles slated for the team principal press conference.

Press conferences (all times GMT)

Verstappen skipped F1’s media day in Miami last month to instead attend the birth of his daughter Lily alongside partner Kelly Piquet, and later flew into the US to compete in the grand prix weekend.

The Dutchman enters this weekend’s Canadian GP 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, after his collision with Russell proved costly for Verstappen.

Verstappen was slammed with a 10-second time penalty for hitting the Mercedes star and given three penalty points, placing him one away from a race ban.

The penalty resulted in a demotion for Verstappen which saw him tumble down the order to P10 and pick up a solitary point, further damaging his chances at a fifth world title.

READ MORE: Late FIA penalty set to kick in at F1 star's next race

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