(Paris) The International Automobile Federation (FIA) clarified on Friday its intentions on the prohibition of “political statements”, in particular from Formula 1 drivers who, if they do not respect the measure, will will face penalties.
According to a note published on its site, the FIA explains that drivers will be able to “express their opinions on any political, religious or personal question” in “their own sphere and outside the framework of competitions”, such as during interviews on weekends. race ends.
On the other hand, “during the key moments of all motorsport competitions, such as podiums, national anthems and official activities “on the playing field”, drivers will not be able to express their options, said a door. – word of the authority, except “on an exceptional basis and on a case-by-case basis”.
Drivers who do not comply with the ban may be subject to various penalties, ranging from a warning to exclusion, including a penalty on the grid.
This clarification requested by several drivers comes two months after an update of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, where it announced that it would ban, in the name of the principle of neutrality, the “general formulation and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments except “prior written approval from the FIA” or the ASN, the National Sporting Authority of the country in question.
The decision of the governing body of motor sport – which also regulates the World Rally Championships (WRC) or endurance (WEC) – has stirred up the middle of Formula 1, opposed to the measure.
One of the most committed drivers on the grid, seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton assured us on Wednesday that “nothing [l]would prevent us from talking about the things that [l]e passionate and the problems that exist. »
And to assume: “sport has a responsibility – that of always speaking out on important issues to raise awareness, especially when we travel to all these different places”.
In 2020, on the podium of the Grand Prix of Tuscany, the Mercedes driver had for example put on a T-shirt calling for “arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor”, a black woman killed by the police in her apartment in the United States . This act had already led the FIA to review its protocol rules during post-race ceremonies.