Mohammed Ben Sulayem doesn’t like Formula 1 drivers’ language on the radio. And that’s a fact. The FIA president, in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, explained that he has asked F1 bosses to reduce the amount of bad language broadcast on TV regarding team radio.
“We have to distinguish between our sport, which is motorsport, and rap music. We are not rappers. They say the ‘c’ word how many times a minute? We are not like that. That’s them, and we are us.”
Today, right on time, the response from the drivers arrived. The most piqued and profound was from Lewis Hamilton. The most successful driver in Formula 1 activity responds to the FIA president.
“I don’t like the way he phrased it. Saying that rappers are very stereotyped and if you think about it, most rappers are black. And that makes you think when he says, ‘We’re not like them.’ So I think those are the wrong words. There’s a racial element to it.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Lewis’s controversy, therefore, is more about the aspect involving skin color rather than Ben Sulayem’s criticism of too many epithets heard on team radio. Indeed, from this point of view Hamilton has shown himself to be almost on the same page as the top of the International Automobile Federation.
“When I was 22, I didn’t think about it that much. It was just a matter of emotions coming out and saying whatever came to mind, forgetting how many people were listening and how many children were listening.”
“So, from that point of view, I agree. If you listen to the other pilots you understand why they haven’t understood it yet. But probably sooner or later they will understand it.”
“I’m sure if they have sanctions, people will stop doing it and maybe… I don’t know if it’s necessary, but I certainly think there’s too much bad language,” Lewis concluded.
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