Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called for a “civilised” approach to the ongoing swearing controversy, after the FIA punished Max Verstappen for using one in Singapore.
In Thursday’s press conference, Verstappen, reflecting on the previous race in Azerbaijan, called his car “f***ed”, which sparked outrage from the FIA, which handed him the equivalent of community service. Verstappen’s response was to say as little as possible in subsequent official press conferences, choosing to speak to the media outside.
Wolff recounted the time he and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur were hauled before stewards for using foul language in Las Vegas, but noted that perhaps more nuance was needed.
“Last year I was in front of the stewards after Las Vegas and it was quite a funny experience! Fred and I were there at the same time. He was a little more worried,” Wolff said.
I told him, “This is the first time since school that I’ve been called by the principal, and I assure you it will be the last.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Ben Hunt
“That said, I think it’s safe to say that swearing and rudeness on the radio is not something that should happen. If it’s so bad that it’s disrespectful, it crosses the line, there are people at home who watch it.”
“The F-word has become part of everyday language, but it’s always the context that makes it so. We want emotion, we want raw moments and we understand that the drivers are in an extreme state. If we can tone it down a bit it’s good for all of us, but I wouldn’t necessarily ban the F-word, because I think there are worse words than that.”
“I don’t think using the F-word in a press conference is the worst thing. But OK if we have to adapt, we all adapt our language, including the team principals, then we will be more careful. It’s more civilized this way.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added that the situation could have been handled differently, believing that a solution that could avoid such a backlash would have been more appropriate.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in the garage with Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
He denied asking Verstappen to tone down his language in the car, noting that there should be a difference in context between what is said in front of the media and conversations on the pit wall.
“I think Max made it very clear how he felt about it,” Horner explained. “Of course all these drivers are role models, but the language you use in everyday life… I think it would have been better to approach it a little differently, to avoid any embarrassment.”
“I don’t know how much he speaks now in the FIA press conference, but I assume it’s relatively little. I guess the difference was between a press conference and the language in the car, but for a driver who is not a native English speaker…”
“We’ve seen members of the royal family tell photographers to ‘take a f***ing photo’, so reactions have to be relative.”
Additional information by Ronald Vording and Ben Hunt
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