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Just 24 hours ago, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was ranting in disgust at the filthy language Formula 1 drivers were using over team radio, arguing that things like the F word could corrupt kids watching F1. Now, championship leader Max Verstappen has been ordered to do community service for swearing in a F1 press conference.
In the buildup to the Singapore Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend, Verstappen was asked by a reporter why his teammate, Sergio Perez, was quicker last time out in Baku, reports Motorsport.com. The Red Bull driver responded in classic Verstappen fashion, saying that “the car was f***ed.”
This clearly didn’t sit well with Ben Sulayem and the FIA stewards presiding over the Singapore Grand Prix, as Verstappen has now been ordered to “accomplish some work of public interest,” according to documents shared by the FIA. As Motorsport explains:
A statement issued by the stewards after opening free practice said that Verstappen had been summoned for breaching Article 12.2.1k of the International Sporting Code.
This states it is an offence to issue: “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motorsport and on the values defended by the FIA.”
But after the investigation found Verstappen in breach of the regulations, the stewards’ report read: “It is the policy of the FIA to ensure that language used in its public forums, such as press conferences, meets generally accepted standards for all audiences and broadcasts.
“In particular this is true of statements made by participants in the World Championships and thus being role models both inside and outside the sport.
Verstappen tried to argue against the penalty from the stewards, explaining that “the word used is ordinary in speech as he learned it,” according to the FIA. This is a similar argument made whenever Visa Cash App RB F1 Team Yuki Tsunoda has a bleep-filled outburst on team radio.
Many F1 insiders argue that because the Japanese racer learned English alongside foul-mouthed engineers while he was rising through the single-seater ranks, this is the best way he knows to express his feelings in English.
Regardless, it’s an argument that didn’t hold up against the FIA, and Verstappen was asked to apologize for his conduct and will carry out a spot of extra-curricular work to benefit his community. He can, of course, appeal the decision if he so wishes.
The FIA’s clampdown on swearing is its latest ploy to clean up the Formula 1 paddock. It follows attempts to restrict the jewelry worn by racers in their cars and a move to stop drivers from making political gestures through the outfits they wear on the podium.