In the days before the Singapore GP, the FIA launched a harsh offensive to try to eliminate swearing in Formula 1. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, revealed days ago that they would take measures: “We must differentiate our sport from rap. We are not rappers. How many times per minute do they say the ‘f’ word? “We are not that.” In addition, he acknowledged that, as a former driver, he understands adrenaline, but riders must be responsible and said and done.
Although swear words are not broadcast as such on television and overlap with beeps, the frequency of such insults has become a cause of concern for the agency. A formal request has already been made to the FOM to limit the radio stations on which these bad insults are played and broadcast on television. But the FIA went there and published its first and controversial sanction against a driver.
After the three-time world champion used the word “screwed” in the Thursday pre-race press conference (the full translated sentence was: “I was screwed. I knew immediately that the car “shits”), he was forced to appear before the FIA.
And, after the first free practice session, the body that governs Formula 1 announced in a statement that the Dutchman would be punished with community service! A decision that put the rest of the pilots on alert. The reactions were immediate and from different teams it did not take long for them to position themselves alongside the Red Bull driver who went so far as to boycott the subsequent press conferences and threaten to leave Formula 1 after his punishment.
The drivers even announced they would hold talks and a crucial meeting to determine whether to confront FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem after Max Verstappen was banned. Lewis Hamilton urged Verstappen to ignore penaltywhile Lando Norris, who just behind Verstappen in the standings after his victory in Singapore, He said it was “unfair” and that he “didn’t agree with any of it.”
Alex Wurz, who competed for Benetton and Williams and now president of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, was also forceful: “As president of the GPDA, I have to say officially that of course we will discuss it internally, first we will reach a full consensus and then we will consider whether, and in what way, we will talk to the FIA and the president. Drivers must be able to express themselves authentically, but not in an offensive or discriminatory way. For me, the sanction is too severe.”
However, This unity has been abruptly broken by Fernando Alonso who, by surprise, has launched a harsh attack against the Dutch driver, openly siding with the FIA.
“You must behave decently”
“Things like that remind me that there are a lot of people watching us,” Alonso told Marca, who then pointed out that this comes with responsibility.
“If you are a pilot or someone in the public domain, you are supposed to behave decently. So the fans can give you a lot of love, a lot of motivation, but there is also a great responsibility with what is expected of you. You have to be an example if you want, and if you don’t want to, you have to do it. If you want to say something that is not correct, you have to restrain yourself and be politically correct. You have a responsibility to your fans and those people believe in you,” said the Spaniard.
Verstappen’s sanction has not been overturned and F1 drivers are expected to hold talks with the FIA in Austin, where the next Grand Prix will be held, about the community service sanction imposed on the Red Bull driver. In this scenario, Alonso’s stab has been a real splash of cold water for Verstappen who considers it a betrayal in the face of the unanimous support of a large part of the grid.