FIA president signals a change to swearing punishments which have upset Formula 1 drivers

By Canadian Press on April 29, 2025.

The president of Formula 1’s governing body FIA has signaled he’ll make “improvements” to punishments for swearing and criticism which have sparked a backlash from F1 drivers.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem posted on Instagram Monday that after “constructive feedback” from drivers across the various event the FIA governs, “I am considering making improvements to Appendix B.”

That’s the document which lays out the punishments for a range of offenses ranging from physical violence to political statements, swearing and any comments deemed to cause “moral injury or loss” to FIA.

Ben Sulayem has been seeking to crack down on swearing since last year and punishments were tightened for 2025 to allow for larger fines and suspensions for drivers who swear repeatedly.

The crackdown on swearing prompted a backlash from F1 drivers when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished last year. Leclerc was fined and Verstappen was asked to make amends with community service. Drivers in the World Rally Championship boycotted TV interviews last month after one of them was fined.

After the last F1 race in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen refused to talk about a penalty which cost him the lead because, he suggested, any criticism risked breaking the FIA rules.

“I know that I cannot swear in here but at the same time, you can also not be critical,” he said.

There was one sign of a more flexible approach when Carlos Sainz, Jr. wasn’t fined for using an expletive in a news conference while he protested another fine for being late for a national anthem.

“Humans make the rules and humans can improve the rules,” Ben Sulayem wrote Monday. “The principle of continuous improvement is something I have always believed in and is at the heart of all we do at the FIA.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press

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