The new line adopted by the FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has come into action. At the end of the first free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was summoned by the stewards for the language used in the press conference held yesterday evening in Marina Bay.
Responding to a question about the difficulties encountered in the race in Baku, Verstappen replied: “We changed the set-up after free practice, and it didn’t work. When I started qualifying, I realised the car was ‘fucked’”.
The tightening up that Ben Sulayem wanted to avoid inappropriate language on team radio has now spread to include the press conferences of the International Federations. The International Sporting Code introduced on January 1st has modified Article 12.2.1 (k), which previously banned inappropriate behavior by drivers towards FIA members.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, speaks to Mohammed ben Sulayem, President of the FIA
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
The article in question has been amended to also sanction inappropriate language, specifying “Any word, action or written statement which causes moral damage to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its managers and, more generally, to the interest of motorsport and the values defended by the FIA”.
“We have to make a distinction between our sport, motorsport, and rap music,” Ben Sulayem stressed. “We are not rappers. It’s not okay to hear the ‘F’ word every minute. We’re not there.” Words immediately commented on by Hamilton, who boasts many friends in the music scene.
“I don’t like the way he phrased it,” Lewis commented. “Rappers are very stereotyped, and if you think about it, most rappers are black, and when he says, ‘We’re not like them,’ it can be read as a ‘racial’ assessment.” The issue seems destined to have a long polemical tail.
#FIA #line #swearing #place #Max #stewards
