(Singapore) Triple Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was sanctioned by the stewards on Friday after using a vulgar word during the press conference before the Singapore Grand Prix on Thursday.
While the FIA usually imposes fines in such cases, this time it ordered the Dutchman to “perform community service” under its supervision, without specifying the nature of the service.
Asked why his Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez was quicker than him last weekend in Azerbaijan, Verstappen replied: “I don’t know, different set-up. As soon as I started qualifying I knew the car was shit.”the car was fucked”) ».
The commissioners clarified that they had imposed this sanction because this issue had already been raised several times and fines had been imposed, but that this time they wanted to go further.
This decision is probably not unrelated to the request of the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, to put an end to the vulgarities broadcast live on television.
In an interview with the specialist website www.motorsport.com broadcast on Thursday, the head of the F1 governing body called for a reduction in vulgarity.
“We have to differentiate between our sport, motorsport, and rap. We are not rappers. They say the F-word (fuckeditor’s note)]how many times a minute? We don’t do that. They are who they are and we are [qui nous sommes] “, Ben Sulayem said.
These remarks had caused several drivers to react on Thursday, particularly for the vulgarities uttered in the heat of the moment on the radio from their single-seater.
“They can just not broadcast the radios,” said Briton Lando Norris (McLaren). “Of course there will be bad words, but that’s just because we try to do our best and we feel hurt when things don’t go well. But I’m sure that’s the case in every other sport. It’s just that it’s not always recorded.”
“We shouldn’t give people the chance to hear it, that would be much better than banning drivers. But come on, how old are we? Five, six? Even if a five or six year old child watches, he’s going to end up swearing anyway,” said Verstappen, who ultimately did not escape a sanction.