‘Our members are adults’: F1 drivers criticise FIA over fines for swearing

Formula 1 drivers have criticized the president of the sport’s governing body, the FIA, and asked to be treated like adults in an escalating row over swearing in news conferences.

After top drivers like champion Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished for swearing in an apparent FIA crackdown, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association said FIA President Mohamed Ben Sulayem needed to “consider his own tone and language.”

“With regards to swearing, there is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as a Formula 1 car, or a driving situation,” the GPDA said in a statement on Instagram.

“We urge the FIA President to also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Further, our members are adults, they do not need to be given instructions via the media about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewelry and underpants.”

Verstappen was ordered to perform an act of “public interest” at the Singapore Grand Prix in September after using an expletive to describe his Red Bull car in a news conference. That was shortly after Ben Sulayem had said there was too much swearing in F1. Verstappen protested the ruling by giving brief, vague answers in his next FIA news conference.

Ferrari driver Leclerc was fined by the stewards at the Brazilian Grand Prix last week for a similar comment at the previous race in Mexico. The GPDA said it wanted more clarity from the FIA and Ben Sulayem about where money raised from fining drivers is spent.

Ben Sulayem’s stance on swearing has drawn criticism before. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton said in September there was a “racial element” to the way Ben Sulayem had sought to contrast F1 with rap music in an interview with motorsport.com explaining why the FIA would push back against swearing.

The FIA has previously tried to enforce a ban on jewelry, which prompted Hamilton to turn up to a race wearing multiple necklaces, watches and rings in protest, and has reminded drivers to wear approved fireproof underclothes.

The next race is the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23.