Recaps

Race Week Recap #34 – Yet Another FIA Edition

By Jeppe H. Olesen 3 min read
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem in front of FIA and F1 logos at a press conference

Hi friends,

It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s snowy. But I don’t mind – That just means I have an excuse to drink hot chocolate and stay on the sofa all day. Also, it warms my heart when I think about how the Rolex 24 At Daytona is this weekend. You should watch – it’s a great race!

Top Story of the Week: The FIA Has Published Changes to the International Sporting Code and Fines

This week we’re talking about bad words. Again.

Last season the FIA decided that the time had come to curb the drivers’ use of bad language, which resulted in Max Verstappen getting mandated community service, and Charles Leclerc having to apologise publicly, both for saying “fuck” during a press conference. To quote Mohammed Ben Sulayem: “We’re not rappers, you know”.

This year, the FIA has decided to take it to the next level by changing the penalty guidelines, to not only include a fine, but potential suspensions and loss of championship points for the 2nd and 3rd offenses.

While it’s not uncommon for governing bodies in sports to have rules regarding publicly criticising the officials and representatives of the organisation, few go as far as the FIA do in this case – and the wording of the regulations are ambiguous enough, that they essentially mean that whatever the FIA or it’s representatives find to be an offending statement is punishable.

Not only does it give the FIA very broad powers to punish any statement it finds unacceptable, such as using swearwords during a race or in a press conference – it also sets out blanket punishments for “the general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA”.

Essentially, if the FIA, or more importantly it’s President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, do not agree with a driver’s statement, they can fine, or potentially suspend or deduct championship points for it.

It’s being reported by the BBC, that these changes to the International Sporting Code were pushed through in a “snap e-vote and with no consultation with other stakeholders or the GPDA or the FIA’s own drivers’ commission“, which just makes matters even worse.

This decision was seemingly made in the President’s office, with no input from anyone else, and is another in a growing line of controversial and questionable decisions from Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

During Sulayem’s tenure, power inside the FIA has been centralised in the President’s office, and with these latest changes, it looks like that is not going to change any time soon.

Sulayem will be up for reelection later this year, but as of now he looks very likely to win another term as the head of the FIA.

There has been no official response from drivers or teams to the changes yet. The irony here, is that a response could trigger a fine under the new guidelines.

The Rest of the Stories This Week:

That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.

If you want to support me, you can help fuel the snack addition that powers me through compiling these lists and vetting the stories – you can do so on Buymeacoffee or Patreon.

Jeppe H. Olesen

I write things about motorsports.