The FIA’s Prize Giving Gala gives drivers and team principals a chance to get out of their race weekend attire and get suited and booted for a formal evening full of awards.
Red Bull were awarded their first constructors’ championship since the days of Sebastian Vettel, while Max Verstappen collected his second consecutive world title.
In an interview with Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was in a light-hearted mood and shared a joke with the Red Bull team.
Ben Sulayem jokingly expressed his distaste for the dress code of the gala, stating that he would change the regulations to remove the need for a necktie.
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“Just one thing, I think what I’m going to do is maybe change the regulations and change this black tie,” began Ben Sulayem.
“It took me one hour and we couldn’t do the tie!”
In typical Max Verstappen fashion, the Dutchman couldn’t resist getting in on the act, showing his quick wittedness to reply to the FIA president’s call for a change of dress code.
“I would happily do it in jeans! A great start to the evening,” joked the 25-year-old.
Christian Horner took a sly dig at his own team during the humorous interaction, adding a witty comment that the black tie should be added to the team’s budget cap.
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The FIA gala was a generally pleasant evening, with jokes being shared between many teams and FIA officials, however there did seem to be some friction between Christian Horner and Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The FIA president went on a bizarre rant about the controversial Grand Prix in Japan, that left teams rethinking their mathematics as Max Verstappen was crowned world champion, claiming that the teams make the rules and the FIA only enforce them.
The unprovoked rant left a slightly sour taste in the mouth of some Red Bull fans, however as they got to see their team lift both championship trophies in front of their rivals, the evening was very positive on the whole for the energy drink giants.