F1 champion Max Verstappen banned from flying on medical advice

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen banned from flying on medical advice

Max Verstappen missed out on the awards ceremony

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 13 December 2025 21:57

Max Verstappen may not have been able to attend the FIA prize giving gala in Uzbekistan last night, but he did send a video message congratulating the winners, and revealing the reason for his absence.

It was shared earlier on Friday that Verstappen would not be at the annual awards ceremony due to the fact that he had the flu, which meant that he would not be able to see Lando Norris claim his drivers' championship trophy, or be there to pick up his 'Action of the Year' award.

That award was given to Verstappen for his overtake on Oscar Piastri at the Imola Grand Prix, when he swept around the outside into turn three.

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In a video message to all of the drivers and team personnel gathered in Uzbekistan, Verstappen revealed that he had been told by doctors that he couldn't fly out, because of his illness.

"Hi everyone, Max here, I'm very sorry that I couldn't be with you guys tonight," he said in a video message to the gala.

"Doctors have prevented me from flying. Just wanted to say, big congratulations first of all to our president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for being re-elected, I'm sure there will be very exciting times ahead of us together.

"Besides that, I wanted to say a big congrats to all the winners out there, I know that everyone is always working very hard for their success so be very proud and enjoy the night.

"Besides that, a big congratulations to McLaren and especially Lando, you guys had an unbelievable season and it was really cool to be able to race against you guys until the end."

Who were the big winners from F1 awards?

While there was plenty of time given to celebrate McLaren, Norris, Verstappen and all of the other heroes from the 2025 F1 season, the ceremony was also used to highlight all of the FIA-governed racing series.

F3 champion Rafael Camara, for example, was given the FIA Rookie of the Year award for his stunning season in which he broke multiple records and claimed championship success with one race to spare in his first year in the series.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's endurance team were celebrated after they claimed their first WEC titles since 1972 last season, and F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli claimed his trophy at the glamorous event.

As Verstappen suggested in his video message, there was also time to celebrate Ben Sulayem's success at being re-elected FIA president, meaning he will serve in the role for the next four years after originally taking the job in 2021.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen