The FIA decided against punishing Max Verstappen after the Red Bull racer was caught on camera showing a middle finger to Williams reserve Luke Browning during F1 testing
Swearing has been talked about a lot during the Formula 1 off-season.
Massive fines, potential race bans and even points deductions are among the potential punishments for drivers found guilty of ‘misconduct’. And, in the eyes of the FIA, that includes swearing these days.
But while it’s clear that everyone not named Mohammed ben Sulayem thinks it’s ridiculous to expect elite sportspeople who are risking their lives and giving everything in the pursuit of milliseconds of performance to be able to watch their mouth while doing so, one thing up to now has been wrapped in mystery.
How strictly will these new rules be applied? Will drivers be expected to keep it PG while in the cockpits of their cars at 200mph, despite having a microphone inside their helmets? Or will it be restricted to press conferences and other media and TV sessions, like when Max Verstappen dropped his F-bomb in Singapore last year which started this whole ridiculous mess?
After pre-season testing in Bahrain, it seems we have an answer. TV cameras captured the moment Verstappen showed a middle finger to someone while driving his new Red Bull car through the pit lane, sparking speculation that he would become the first F1 racer to fall foul of the FIA’s new rules.
But he wasn’t. A spokesperson for the governing body has since said that the Dutchman will face no further action for his gesture – and the reason behind that decision not to act is evidence that common sense has prevailed at least a little bit.
“[Verstappen’s gesture] happened on the field [of play] and is therefore different from an official interview setting,” the FIA spokesperson confirmed. So it seems, assuming they will follow their own precedent, the governing body will not be fining and banning drivers for the odd S-word here or F-bomb there over the radio while driving at break-neck speed.
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It’s a very welcome development because it was clear from the moment these new rules were published that they lacked nuance. So did the decision to make Verstappen do community service for turning the air blue in that press conference last year, considering he simply said his car was “f***ed”.
Swearing or using any other words to attack others or name-call is, obviously, not okay. But penalising someone for using the word to describe an inanimate object, particularly now that potentially title race-defining points deductions and bans are on the table, is going too far.
That said, the onus has to be on the driver to manage their actions now that these rules are in place. There was nothing sinister about Verstappen’s one-finger salute in Bahrain – it was an affectionate gesture at his friend Luke Browning, the Williams academy driver, as he drove past him in the pit lane – but though he got away with it this time, he shouldn’t give the FIA any further reasons to punish him.
