Last Updated on March 2 2025, 8:48 am
Formula One testing ia over and now the wait for the first Grand Prix in Melbourne begins. On the first day of the pre-season event in Bahrain there was a rain delay of an hour and George Russell was not happy that his time in the car was being compromised.
In a live interview with Sky F1 he used the word “shit” while the delay ensued and there was much speculation he would be sanctioned under the all new FIA rules governing bad language which was unilaterally decided in January.
Now F1 drivers will receive a €40,000 fine id they are caught swearing which is four times the amount of drivers in any other of the FIA appointed racing categories. Further, and in effect quite sinister, is the regulation which will see a driver banned for a whole month should he fall foul off this new rule in a rolling twelve month period.
Draconian one month F1 driver bans
This punishment is draconian and has never been issued in the 75 years of Formula One history. Kevin Magnussen was the first driver to fall foul foul of the another regulation which came into force in 2014, which states should an F1 driver receive 12 penalty points on his license in a rolling twelve month timeline, he will receive a one race ban.
He served this at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2024 and was replaced by Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman.
Besides the George Russell offence in Bahrain testing this week, Max Verstappen was seen to flip the bird as he passed the Williams garage. Of course this is universally interpreted as communicating the phrase “fuck off,” which under the guidelines issued in January would be punishable and become strike one of his three.
However the drivers association has taken on the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who is behind the drive to make them squeaky clean and allegedly role models for ‘five year old children.’ The communicated in an open letter that they did not appreciate being “treated like children” together being told which underpants they could and could not wear.
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F1 drivers demand respect over underpants
The latter issue came about over jokey comments made by one of the F1 drivers about wearing his lucky underpants on a particular race weekend. The F1 drivers must wear fire proof underwear, not because they are so good looking they may self combust, but for safety reasons in case of a fire.
The public letter also condemned the FIA president himself for using “inappropriate language” when describing the collective as being like bad mouthed “rappers,” something which Lewis Hamilton insisted was a cultural stereotype given most rappers are black.
Ben Sulayem’s response was to initiate in a potential one month ban for F1 drivers defying his edict, something the Grand Prix Drivers Association has been defying behind the scenes.
The honour of the driver to first fall foul of the new profanity laws was Adrien Fourmaux who competes in the World Rally Championship for using the F-word in a post stage interview in rally Sweden.
Russell and Verstappen escape swearing punishment
However, it appears the F1 drivers have persuaded the Islamic FIA president that bad language should not be universally punished given the pressure they are under when behind the wheel of a car travelling close to 300kph.
The evidence of this was when Fomruka E’S Dan Ticktum went mysteriously unpunished by there stewards at the Saudi Aravia E-Prix for his profanity laden rant over dream radio in Jeddah. The reason is apparently because this was not during an FIA approved media interview.
So dropping the F-bomb or calling someone a “shit-house” is now outside the scope of Ben Sulayems new draconian rules. Of course if bad language is used to describe another individuals character, this will fall under the remit of bringing the sport into disprepute.
So both George and Max will escape the long arm of the Ben Sulayem law for their transgressions in pre-season testing ashore F1 drivers appear to have struck a deal for this to apply only to FIA approved media events.
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It would be amusing were the F1 drivers to now make a point due top the extension, by agreeing as one to call each other “mo-fo’s” over team radio, whenever they feel they have been obstructed by another on track.
Yet Adolf Ben Sulayem is ahead of the game on this wheeze should there drivers decide to mess with his head. Speaking three weeks ago at an FIA officials summit at the Circuit del Garam, Ben published a video stating he would have non of this nonsense.
“Do we go on and then shut down the radios of live communications? Maybe. Do we delay it? Maybe,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we will work [on] with our promoters. We are still the owners of the championship.”
This is the latest in the long running war of words between FOM who own the commercial rights and manage the TV broadcasts and the FIA. Driver radio passion is part of the drama of Formula One racing and for other series and a blanket ban wold reduce the emotion displayed when drivers are hurtling around a track at unthinkable speeds.
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No five year olds watch FIA press conferences anyway
F1 radio communications during a grand prix are delayed currently and the naughty words are bleeped out. Yet the written text provided on the screen makes it perfectly clear to anyone watching, what in fact the driver said.
However on premium TV subscription packages, the exchanges over team radio are played in real time, and the proverbial 5 year old watching Max Verstappen’s stream will clearly be influenced by his expletives and become a potty mouth for life
The F1 drivers appear to be excused for now when they swear outside the FIA approved press events. Then again, the FIA press conferences are so sanitised and dull, they can barely get the F1 journalists to attend, never mind a five year old to watch.
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Whilst the papaya liveried cars didn’t top the time sheets in qualification one lap simulations, their race pace was mighty and put the rest of the field in the shade. Lando Norris will be feeling more confident than ever that this is his year to become F1 drivers champion, although the Red Bull in the hands of Max Verstappen appears to be the closest rival to McLaren… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
