Toto Wolff finds the way F1 drivers are treated by the FIA unfair, after Max Verstappen was punished for using abusive language in a press conference and in his car.
“I think you always have to take into account the context in how you say things, but we want emotion, we want raw moments, we understand that the drivers are in an extreme state. If we can tone it down a little bit, I think that’s good for all of us, but I wouldn’t necessarily ban the F-word.” Wolff said.
Wolff points out that press conferences are not broadcast to a wide audience, and even less to children: “I don’t think anyone listens to the FIA president in a press conference anyway. I mean, they listen to him, but they don’t talk about him, rarely. It’s not a big audience. We are the group.”
“We’re all part of this travelling circus. We know each other. And I don’t think using the F-word in a press conference is the worst thing… If we have to adapt, if we all have to adapt our language, including the team principals, then we’ll see things in a more civilised light.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner supports his driver and puts the seriousness of the problem into perspective: “I think Max has made his feelings about that clear. Of course, all these drivers are role models.”
“But the language is used in everyday life, maybe it could have been handled a little differently, which would have avoided any awkwardness. I don’t know how much he speaks in the FIA press conference now, but I guess it’s relatively little.”
Horner notes that the handling of the problem must be different between hot reactions and conference language.
“I guess there’s a difference between a press conference and the car. But for a driver whose first language is not English… we’ve seen members of the Royal Family telling photographers to take a fucking picture. So the reactions must be relative.”
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