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Formula 1 drivers have urged the sport’s governing body to treat them like adults after Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished for swearing.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) has also criticised FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for his “tone and language” when addressing the topic.<\/p>\n
An open letter from the GPDA said: “There is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as an F1 car, or a driving situation.<\/p>\n
“We urge the FIA president to consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise.<\/p>\n
“Further, our members are adults. They do not need to be given instructions by the media about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewellery or underpants.”<\/p>\n
The FIA has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n
The letter has been in the offing since Ben Sulayem used an interview with Autosport before the Singapore Grand Prix in September to express his distaste for the broadcast of swearing during grands prix.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, Red Bull driver Verstappen was ordered by FIA stewards to “accomplish some work of public interest” after using a swear word to describe his car in a news conference.<\/p>\n
The drivers were dismayed by Ben Sulayem’s comments – because any swear words used over team radio are bleeped out before being broadcast, and because they feel that allowing the public to hear the transmissions gives an added dimension to the sport by revealing the characters of the drivers in extreme situations.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton accused Ben Sulayem<\/a> of using “stereotypical” language with a “racial element” in the interview. <\/p>\n Ben Sulayem said F1 had to “differentiate between our sport\u00a0– motorsport\u00a0– and rap music”.<\/p>\n Ferrari’s Leclerc was fined at last weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix for using a swear word in the post-race news conference at the previous event in Mexico to describe how he felt when he nearly crashed.<\/p>\n