Yahoo Autos FIA Slaps Max Verstappen with Community Service for Saying a Bad Word
The FIA has reprimanded Max Verstappen for "language" during a pre-race press conference in Singapore on Thursday. The swearing that led to the penalty happened just days after FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem voiced concerns about drivers swearing on the radio during races.
Verstappen's apparently problematic language burst forth while he was discussing qualifying at the last grand prix, telling a reporter during the press conference that "as soon as I headed into qualifying, I knew the car was fucked." That, it seems, broke a rule against "coarse, rude" language in official sessions.
As the FIA's official statement on the matter notes, Verstappen "explained that the word used is ordinary speech as he learned it, English not being his native language." That was not considered a worthy excuse — and as a result, Verstappen has now been "obliged to accomplish some work of public interest in coordination with the Secretary General for Sport of the FIA." In other words, he has been assigned community service.
While the FIA is unhappy about Verstappen's language during a press conference, the subject of F1 drivers swearing already came up earlier this week, when organization president Mohamed Ben Sulayem brought up his concerns about drivers cursing on their team radio during races. Ben Sulayem said that he asked F1 organizers FOM to limit how often even bleeped-out swear words are broadcast during races, then in a strange turn, said that F1 "[has] to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music."
The comment about rappers, which Ben Sulayem repeated in the same interview, was an unusual choice. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton noted the racial connotations of that choice in an interview Friday, adding that the "we're not like them" angle is aimed squarely at a primarily black group of celebrities.
Whether or not Ben Sualyem can actually restrict how often drivers swear on their radios during races, his FIA has taken this opportunity to crack down on using the subject matter of George Carlin's "7 Words You Can't Say on Television" routine during press conferences. Verstappen will have to serve his time, while Red Bull will have to figure out the underlying issue that led to the car being "fucked" during qualifying last weekend.
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