The press releases published by the GPDA are rare enough to be relayed. This Thursday, the Grand Prix drivers' association chaired by George Russell in fact came up with a text in order to react to the maneuver initiated by the FIA and particularly by its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in order to sanction the use of vulgarities or swear words of all kinds by pilots. This is the first time since 2016 that the drivers have signed a joint press release relating to F1.
For context, Max Verstappen was punished quite harshly in Singapore by community service for calling his car “f*****”. A sanction criticized by most of his colleagues, Lewis Hamilton even going so far as to advise him not to honor his sanction. In Mexico, Charles Leclerc was entitled to a financial penalty of 10,000 euros, for having uttered the same word when talking about a situation. He immediately apologized while having fun with the sanction addressed to Verstappen earlier, slipping that he did not want to join the Dutchman in TIG.
For the pilots, this little childish game initiated by the legislator must immediately stop and that is the whole meaning of their press release. “As in all sports, competitors must abide by the referee's decision, whether they like it or not, whether they agree or not”they first contextualized. “That’s how sport works. Pilots are no exception and understand this perfectly. Our members are professional drivers who race in Formula 1, the pinnacle of international motorsport. They are gladiators and, every race weekend, they put on a great show for the public.”
Pilots call for more vigilance
“When it comes to profanity, there is a difference between those intended to insult others and more casual swear words, such as those you might use to describe bad weather, or even an inanimate object such as a car. Formula 1, or a driving situation”they detailed, before directly attacking the president of the FIA, who himself spoke on this subject a few weeks ago.
“We ask the FIA President to consider his own tone and language when addressing or speaking about our member drivers, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Furthermore, our members are adults, they do not need to be instructed through the media on such trivial matters as wearing jewelry or running underwear. they clarified, referring to the hunt for jewelry worn by Lewis Hamilton in 2022.
“The GPDA has, on numerous occasions, expressed its opinion that the fines imposed on drivers are not appropriate for our sport. Over the past three years, we have asked the FIA President to share details and strategy regarding how FIA financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent. We also raised concerns about the negative image that financial fines give to our sport. We once again call on the FIA President to demonstrate financial transparency and engage in direct and open dialogue with us.” There is no doubt that the President's response will come soon…
READ ALSO > Leclerc sanctioned with a simple fine for using an expletive in Mexico
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