We apply our recently developed, model-independent quantum approach for intense laser detachment of a weakly bound electron to interpret a recent experiment on above-threshold detachment (ATD) of the F− ion. We find that the measured electron energies correspond to the'Keldysh part'of the ATD spectrum, just below the onset of our predicted rescattering plateau. Overall, our predicted ATD spectrum (using a scaled peak intensity and focal averaging) is in excellent agreement with the experimental data, except for certain structures observed for electron energies above 12.6 eV that we attribute to known two-electron resonances of F−. A number of analytical approximations to our exact p-state ATD amplitude are obtained, and their accuracy is investigated.