The FIA’s latest missive, announcing changes to the governing body’s sporting code that could see drivers banned for swearing or speaking out against the organisation, is not only draconian. It is repressive and threatening.
The changes, which are applied across all FIA-endorsed championships and includes team principals, would see international-level drivers punished with a €40,000 fine for a breach of the rules. A second offence increases to €80,000 and a suspended one-month suspension from competing. A third offence would incur a €120,000 penalty and a one-month racing ban.
F1 drivers, representing the pinnacle of motorsport, would be levied with four times the fines listed above. It is a staggering and serious threat that comes after a crackdown on driver behaviour from the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has made it clear he will not tolerate swearing.
It is uncertain why Ben Sulayem has focused his attention on this particular area, and it is particularly perturbing just how such rule changes have been rushed through ahead of the new season rather than waiting for the World Motorsport Council to convene virtually on 26 February.
Autosport understands there has been no consultation with teams. One insider has suggested the move was a “power play” from the FIA president to control F1 drivers, who have been increasingly vocal about his running of the organisation both personally and through the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association [GPDA]. George Russell, a GPDA director, said he and his fellow members were “a bit fed up” with the FIA leadership.
The BBC claim the regulation change was “pushed through on a ‘snap e-vote and with no consultation with other stakeholders or the GPDA or the FIA’s own drivers’ commission’”.
The FIA says the changes are designed to “enhance transparency and consistency” and bring motorsport more in line with other sporting governing bodies when it comes to punishments. It also says that the decisions would be made by race stewards, who have the power to take them in “mitigating circumstances”.
GPDA director Russell has previously stated that he and other F1 drivers are “a bit fed up” with the current governance
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
An FIA spokesperson said: “The new appendix to the FIA International Sporting Code (ISC) aims to further enhance transparency and consistency in decision-making.
“All major governing bodies including the likes of NFL, FIFA and IOC have similar rules/ fines to protect the integrity of the sport. The FIA is not alone in fining competitors for misconduct.
“The aim of this new appendix is to provide clear guidance to stewards regarding the penalties for violations of specific ISC articles. By establishing a more structured framework, the FIA seeks to ensure that penalties are applied uniformly and transparently, benefiting both stewards and Drivers/Competitors.
“Stewards have the authority to decide what penalty to enforce in the event of a breach of the International Sporting Code (ISC) and/or the applicable FIA regulations. Stewards retain the discretion to take into account any mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances as well as the nature and location of the Event, to tailor the penalty to the specific situation.”
“By establishing a more structured framework, the FIA seeks to ensure that penalties are applied uniformly and transparently, benefiting both stewards and Drivers/Competitors”
FIA spokesperson
There will, of course, be those who agree that swearing should be stamped out, given F1’s drivers are motorsport’s role models and should be held accountable for their behaviour. That is understandable and there is no place for it in a live press conference.
But it can also be argued that swearing is part of the raw emotion of sport. The moment we start dialling out passion from motorsport is also the time when many viewers start switching off.
Nonetheless, the new guidelines are extremely vague, with the FIA defining misconduct as “the general use of language (written or verbal), gesture and/or sign that is offensive, insulting, coarse, rude or abusive and might reasonably be expected or be perceived to be coarse or rude or to cause offence, humiliation or to be inappropriate”.
The ambiguity from the above throws up multiple questions as to what would be seen as a contravention. For example, should any driver decided to wear a Pride-flag inspired logo, would that be deemed inappropriate or offensive? In some cultures, perhaps it would.
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Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
The more-worrying addition is the following clause which relates directly to the FIA. It lists the forbidding of “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”.
Such a threat is incredibly controlling and threatens freedom of speech. We are now in a position where if a driver is holding the governing body to account, they could face a ban for airing their personal view.
It is a terrifying prospect. A form of gagging order that runs against the fabric of what an international sporting event should stand for.
As with the interpretation of the swearing and gesture guidelines, what would constitute a contravention of the “interest” and “values defended by the FIA”, is very much open to interpretation. Would an F1 driver speaking about a circuit’s particular safety measures or response to an accident constitute a contravention, given it went against the governing body’s values?
It is understood these changes have not been levied at any particular team or driver and given this is a change to the sporting code they have wide-reaching implications. One source intimated that the threat of a one-month ban would result in individuals being too afraid to speak out.
Teams and drivers are yet to react to the latest regulations, but it is becoming clear that while such changes have been introduced to rein in their behaviour, such inhibiting and penal rules could actually serve to increase the animosity towards the governing body.
The F1 world champion, Max Verstappen, whose father Jos will also be tied to the restrictions if he continues to compete in rallying, has already felt the wrath of the FIA and made his feelings knowns on its punishment towards him for swearing.
He’s made no secret of the fact that he is growing tired of F1’s overburdened regulations and this is likely to feel like another slap in the face. Is it enough to force him to call time on his racing career altogether? We will have to see.
As will the wider reaction to this latest tweak of the regulations, which threatens to silence the stars and could destabilise F1’s rapidly-deteriorating relationship with its governing body even further.
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Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
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