The FIA has requested Formula 1 to better censor its broadcasts, particularly aiming to limit the use of profanity over the team radio. Several drivers have been known to use expletives during a race weekend, but according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, such instances should be broadcast less frequently in the future.
“There’s a difference between our sport, motorsport, and rap music,” Ben Sulayem stated in the lead-up to the race weekend in Singapore. “We’re not rappers. In that kind of music, for instance, the F-word is often used. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen as often with us.” However, the president wants to limit the use of profanity over the team radio.
“I understand that tempers can sometimes flare, I’ve been a driver myself,” Ben Sulayem clarified. The FIA president has won the Middle East Rally Championship fourteen times. “If I got a push from another driver in the past, I would get angry too. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t control our behavior. We also have a responsibility. What do you do when you’re watching the race at home with your kids and one of the drivers starts swearing out loud?”
Therefore, Ben Sulayem is advocating for stricter rules regarding the use of expletives. “We’re already actively working on this,” he explained. “Of course, we were also the ones who gave permission to broadcast the team radios, but there are limits. Rules are rules, and they’re there for the wellbeing of the sport. It’s important that everyone adheres to them. Learn more about how Lewis Hamilton conducts himself on and off the track.”
