As Oscar Piastri claimed pole in Sau Paulo Sprint qualifying with his team mate making it a McLaren 1-2, the big story of “swear gate” rumbled on in the F1 paddock. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is the first driver to be summoned to the stewards for swearing since Max Verstappen in the latest crack down instigated by the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem in there run up to the Singapore Grand Prix.
At the Thursday FIA drivers’ press conference in the city state Max Verstappen dropped the F-bomb whilst describing how bad his car was in Baku to the assembled media. He was immediately sanctioned by the stewards but with the unusual penalty of community service, something which got under the world champion’s skin as he refused to answer questions properly in further “official” sanctioned press events across the weekend.
Last time out at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc found himself in similar hot water as he explained in the post race FIA press conference how he saved his car from a huge smash along the start/finish straight. “I had one oversteer and then when I recovered from that oversteer, I had an oversteer from the other side and then I was like, ‘f**k’.”
Leclerc in the dock for ‘bad language’
Leclerc instantly realised what he had done in front of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris and he quickly reacted, “Oh, sorry!” before adding: “Oh, no, oh no! I don’t want to join Max!”
Carlos Sainz, jokingly asked of Leclerc “You have your wallet here?” But of course the precedent set by the stewards in Singapore means the traditional slap on the wrists fine is no longer the punishment of choice for swearing at an FIA accredited event.
A quick look back at the FIA transcript from the drivers press conference in Mexico will reveal Leclerc’s swearing has already be censored and the Ferrari driver was taken aside at the end of the media event by an FIA official who spoke quietly to him for a short while.
Whether the Ferrari driver will be investigated or not is at the stewards discretion this weekend and today will be the first time they are all in one place to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile Max Verstappen, who is never one to miss a trick, had been invited to the drivers FIA pre-event press conference for the first time since Singapore. The world champion came under fire with question after question directed towards him drilling down in the the latest hot topic of F1 driving standards.
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FIA rule book keeps growing
Most journalists in the room appeared to believe now the ‘being ahead at the apex’ was the key factor in deciding an overtake and a number queried whether more drivers will “dive bomb” up the inside in future.
Oscar Piastri dismissed this suggestion although he admitted the drivers were talking with the FIA over tweaks which are necessary to tidy up the rule book. Max Verstappen was adamant in his view that driving standards in F1 is already over regulated.
When asked what he would change in the current driving guidelines Max replied: “I think it’s not that straightforward. Clearly, even between how many seconds that you get, so. I mean, like I said before, sometimes they work for you, sometimes they work against you.
“I think it’s never going to be perfect because even if you remove rules, then you get into a battle, then you want more rules because it’s not clear what is allowed or not. Then when you have too many rules, you want less rules. It just keeps on going left and right all the time. Do I think it’s over-regulated? Probably yes. I mean, in general, the rule book is only getting bigger and bigger every single year. I don’t think that’s always the right way forward.”
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Verstappen on stewards inaction over swearing
Max was clearly aware that as yet no action had been taken by the stewards over Charles Leclerc’s swearing and neatly dropped this into the conversation when asked whose advice he respects and trusts the most.
“People that are objective and close to me and not just there to stir… I can’t say the word, because I’ll probably get another… I mean, apparently it only counts for me anyway, because, you know, after the race in Mexico, someone was swearing. I didn’t hear anything from it. So, it’s better I don’t swear again.
“But, yeah, you know, some people are just being very annoying. And I know who these people are. I don’t really pay a lot of attention to them anyway. And I think I’ve got to this stage in my career with the right people supporting me and making my own decisions. Yeah, so I think I know what I’m doing,” Verstappen concluded.
Whilst Max probably doesn’t care less whether Leclerc gets a sweatbox penalty or not, but he is acutely aware his messaging will reach the desired ears. motorsport.com reported Verstappen telling the Dutch media, “I’ve got the wrong passport for this paddock” and that what Leclerc said “is worse than what I said in its context, and it was a much more important press conference with more people watching”.
Cultural impact to be considered
Swearing in F1 has been one of the most reported topics in what is nearly now two months since Singapore. The drivers are expected to issue a joint statement but this has not yet materialised. George Russell however who speaks for the GPDA has made his views clear.
While the answer to most motorsport arguments is to make a rule, Russell believes it is pointless introducing “a set of regulations, 100 pages long, saying ‘you’re allowed to say this, you can’t say that’…”.
“For people where English isn’t their native language, they have different views on swearing,” Russell added.
George went on to talk about how different cultures use language differently giving the example of Australians who “say a specific C-word which in some context is being polite to someone. Whereas if you say that in the UK, that is massively frowned upon.”
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Of course there was uproar recently when it came to light that F1 triple world champion Nelson Piquet had used language which in Portuguese speaking South American countries is a colloquialism. He was fined by a judge following claims lodged by a umber of Brazilian human rights organisations that the term used whilst commentating on F1 was racist.
Piquet later apologised in a statement for the “ill thought out” racial term but said it “is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.”
Russell concludes, “common sense needs to be applied, and if somebody does swear inappropriately, then maybe there should be the appropriate fine or whatever against that.
“Community service seems a little bit too much for the crime that was committed [by Verstappen].”
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Stewards issue controversial penalty to Leclerc
The ruling on the Leclerc misdemeanour was announced late on Friday in São Paulo. In its ruling the FIA suggests the severity of the transgression from the Ferrari driver merited a lesser punishment than was issued to the world champion.
“The Stewards reviewed the transcript of the Post-Race Drivers’ Press Conference in Mexico and found that Charles Leclerc, the driver of car 16, used language in response to a somewhat leading question asking him ‘What did you say to yourself’ in relation to the significant moment towards the end of the race when Leclerc was fighting to control the car at the exit of the last corner,” the Stewards stated.
“In response, Leclerc used coarse language being the accurate recollection of what he thought to himself at the time. Leclerc immediately realized his error and apologized. Such language is not considered suitable for broadcast.”
The stewards cited article 20 which governs ‘misconduct’ and that Leclerc did not direct his comments at anyone in particular and apologised immediately for his potty mouth.
Leclerc escapes with wrists slapped
“During the hearing Leclerc expressed his regret for his momentary lack of judgment and shared that he understood his responsibility as a role model for the sport. The Stewards considered the mitigation factor that Leclerc was immediately apologetic,” continues the stewards statement.
“The Stewards while noting that the driver’s contrite behavior conclude that a breach has occurred and a penalty is warranted. The Stewards do not consider that this breach reached the same level as the most recent case and as such chose to levy a fine of €10,000 with €5,000 suspended pending no repeat within 12 months.”
For now there has been no re-action from Max Verstappen, yet this ruling will simply re-open the conversation over inconsistent rulings being handed down by the stewards.
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Theres a row brewing in Formula One land and unsurprisingly it involves officials from the FIA who govern the sport. Each year the F1 race officials come under fire for their decisions with a common accusation made that they are “too inconsistent” and this row is no different.
The F1 stewards are a grace and favour appointment by the FIA. They are selected from the nigh on 200 national members associations and at each race there are four stewards with one an ex-driver to represent a ‘professional racers’ point of view.
During the F1 track sessions the permanent race director Neils Wittich will refer incidents to the stewards for their deliberations. They in turn interpret the regulations and FIA driving standards guidelines and can issue penalties which range from a fine, to a time penalty and even a race ban as Kevin Magnussen recently discovered… READ MORE
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