FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem talks to a race official during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
FIA president signals a change to swearing punishments which have upset Formula 1 drivers
The president of Formula 1’s governing body FIA has signaled he’ll make 鈥渋mprovements鈥 to punishments for swearing and criticism which have sparked a backlash from F1 drivers.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem talks to a race official during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
The president of Formula 1’s governing body FIA has signaled he’ll make 鈥渋mprovements鈥 to punishments for swearing and criticism which have sparked a backlash from F1 drivers.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem posted on Instagram Monday that after 鈥渃onstructive feedback鈥 from drivers across the various event the FIA governs, 鈥淚 am considering making improvements to Appendix B.鈥
That’s the document which lays out the punishments for a range of offenses ranging from physical violence to political statements, swearing and any comments deemed to cause 鈥渕oral injury or loss鈥 to FIA.
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Ben Sulayem has been seeking to crack down on swearing since last year and for 2025 to allow for larger fines and suspensions for drivers who swear repeatedly.
The crackdown on swearing prompted a backlash from F1 drivers when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were last year. Leclerc was fined and Verstappen was asked to make amends with community service. Drivers in the World Rally Championship TV interviews last month after one of them was fined.
After the last F1 race in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen about a penalty which cost him the lead because, he suggested, any criticism risked breaking the FIA rules.
鈥淚 know that I cannot swear in here but at the same time, you can also not be critical,” he said.
There was one sign of a more flexible approach when Carlos Sainz, Jr. wasn’t fined for in a news conference while he protested another fine for being late for a national anthem.
鈥淗umans make the rules and humans can improve the rules,鈥 Ben Sulayem wrote Monday. 鈥淭he principle of continuous improvement is something I have always believed in and is at the heart of all we do at the FIA.鈥
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