The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) has called out FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in response to Formula 1’s recent swearing saga.
The GPDA, which is effectively Formula 1’s drivers’ union, urged Ben Sulayem to “consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in public form or otherwise”.
All 20 current drivers are members, with Mercedes’ George Russell holding a director’s position and Alex Wurz, the former McLaren and Williams driver, its long-standing chair.
The issue of swearing was thrust into the spotlight after Ben Sulaymen said in an interview published on the eve of September’s Singapore GP that he wanted to see less foul language, which is bleeped, from radio feeds aired on F1’s world TV feed.
While he said he had made a request to Formula 1 itself, the sport’s commercial rights holder, Ben Sulaymen also argued that drivers themselves had a responsibility to mind their language.
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Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris did not believe it was right for Verstappen to receive a swearing penalty from the FIA
Later on the same day that the interview was published, Max Verstappen was given F1’s equivalent of community service for swearing during a press conference when describing his Red Bull car’s performance, which resulted in him refusing to give full answers in several official media appearances that followed.
The GPDA statement points to this when saying “there is a difference between swearing to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather or indeed an inanimate object such as an F1 car, or driving situation”.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc then received a €10,000 (£8,420) fine for using a swear word in the post-race press conference at last month’s Mexico City Grand Prix. Although stewards took into account the fact Leclerc had issued an immediate apology and appeared contrite, a fine for the rules breach was still levied.
F1 drivers express concerns about fines
Meanwhile, discussion and controversy around F1’s driving standards guidelines dominated the recent triple header of races in the Americas, with Verstappen’s driving in his battle with title-rival Lando Norris coming under particular scrutiny.
Russell, and other drivers, have called for permanent stewards in a bid for more consistency. Currently, the stewards are different for each race.
Last month, Russell said it seems “a little bit ridiculous for a driver to get a £50k fine for walking over a racetrack, but if the £50k fine is going towards the best stewards in the world, maybe we won’t be so upset about it”.
The GPDA statement also alluded to fines in F1, which it suggests can be used in a better way.
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Charles Leclerc swore in the Mexico City GP press conference and then immediately regretted it, jokingly saying he did not want to get community service like Verstappen did
“The GPDA has, on countless occasions, expressed its view that driver monetary fines are not appropriate for our sport,” it read.
“For the past three years, we have called upon the FIA president to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA’s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent.
“We have also relayed our concerns about the negative image financial fines bring to the sport. We once again request that the FIA president provides financial transparency and direct, open dialogue with us. All stakeholders (FIA, F1, the teams and the GPDA) should jointly determine how and where the money is spent for the benefit of our sport.”
Formula 1 returns with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 22-24, live on Sky Sports F1 where Max Verstappen could seal the championship. Get Sky Sports F1 to watch every race and more live