Formula One drivers have written an open letter calling on the FIA to treat them like adults after recent controversies surrounding its punishments for “misconduct” like swearing.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), effectively the union for active F1 drivers, posted the letter on Instagram on Thursday morning after recent talks about its growing unease over the FIA’s actions under president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
In Singapore, reigning world champion Max Verstappen was ordered by the FIA, F1’s governing body, to complete a day of community service after describing his car as being “a bit f—d” in a news conference.
It prompted Verstappen to protest in the FIA’s news conference after qualifying and the race, giving deliberately short answers, before slamming the call as “ridiculous.”
Last week, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc received a €10,000 fine after he accidentally used the word “f—” when describing narrowly avoiding a high-speed crash in Mexico.
Verstappen’s frustration was shared by his fellow drivers, with GPDA director and Mercedes driver George Russell revealing in Mexico that plans were in place to write a letter summing up their collective feelings.
In the statement regarding “driver misconduct”, the GPDA said that while its members understood a referee’s call must be accepted in sport, there were topics it felt had to be addressed better.
“With regards to swearing, there is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might us to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as a Formula One car, or a driving situation,” part of the statement reads.
The drivers also urged Ben Sulayem to “consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise.”
It came after Ben Sulayem, in the week before the fine against Verstappen, expressed frustration about how much drivers swear on their in-car radios during an interview with Autosport. “We’re not rappers, you know,” Ben Sulayem said. “They say the f-word how many times per minute?”
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, was unimpressed by what he called “very stereotypical” comments by the FIA president, which he said contained a “racial element.”
The GPDA also said: “Further, our members are adults, they do not need to be given instructions via the media, about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewelry and underpants.”
In 2022, Hamilton was subject to scrutiny from the FIA after it ruled he should not be able to race while wearing earrings and a nose stud, jewelry he had long kept in place while in the car.
Another area the GPDA called for clarity over was how the money raised through financial penalties issued to drivers over the season by the FIA was used.
“The GPDA has, on countless occasions, expressed its view that driver monetary fines are not appropriate for our sport,” the statement added. “For the past three years, we have called upon the FIA president to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA’s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent.
“We have also relayed our concurs about the negative image financial fines bring to the sport. We once again request that the FIA president provides financial transparency and direct, open dialogue with us. All stakeholders (FIA, F1, the teams and the GPDA) should jointly determine how and where the money is spent for the benefit of our sport.
“The GPDA wishes to collaborate in a constructive way with all the stakeholders, including the FIA president, in order to promote our great sport for the benefit of everyone who works in it, pays for it, watches it, and indeed loves it. We are playing our part.”
The Athletic has contacted the FIA for comment.
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(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
