The FIA wants to silence drivers who are too critical of stewards

The FIA, a true standard-bearer of benevolence. In a recent message on social media, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, called on race stewards to adopt a stricter approach towards drivers and teams who make insulting or malicious comments towards Formula 1 officials. This initiative is part of the FIA’s “United Against Online Abuse” campaign, which highlights a direct link between negative messages issued by sports figures and the increase in online attacks against officials.

« As part of our ongoing fight against online abuse, recent investigations have shown there is a direct link between negative comments from drivers and team members and the increase in hateful messages towards officials on social media », said the Emirati, who is already implementing some measures to combat this trend. Among them, the president of the FIA has reached an agreement allowing a review of the Sporting Code regulations regarding the “misconduct” of certain pilots, who will now be much more heavily sanctioned when they use the radio to criticize the stewards.

The FIA, a true defender of Formula 1 officials.

« During the last World Motor Sport Council, members approved a modification of the definition of misconduct in the International Sporting Code following incidents where leading figures in our sport made statements against officials that incite abuse. This modification will ensure additional support for FIA officials and volunteers who dedicate their time to improving our sport, making it safe and fair.

» FIA positions itself as a staunch defender of Formula 1 officials, believing that they deserve more respect for the work they perform whenever F1 goes to a circuit.

Ben Sulayem has also stated: “Our stewards must be ready to show strength when they fight against this form of abuse, and they have my full support, as well as that of our International Sporting Code. I urge them to show that the FIA will not tolerate any abuse of any kind within our sport.” The President of the FIA is therefore committed to seeing the stewards fully use the powers granted to them by the FIA to sanction inappropriate behaviors. Ben Sulayem explains that three-quarters of them are overwhelmed with hate messages and threats on social media because of this, an unacceptable situation that the FIA is determined to eradicate.

Such a decision after several intolerable episodes.

This willingness to tighten the rules has its roots in several unacceptable incidents that have occurred in recent years. In 2023, during the final round in Abu Dhabi, the Sporting Code was revised following comments made by Sergio Perez, who had referred to the stewards as a “joke” after receiving a five-second penalty for an incident with Lando Norris. The stewards had once again come under criticism in Qatar in 2021, still on Red Bull’s side, when the head of the Austrian team used the term “thug” to describe one of the stewards following a penalty imposed on Verstappen for not slowing down sufficiently under yellow flags.

This year, the FIA has shown a more authoritarian stance, sanctioning some drivers already. Yuki Tsunoda, an AlphaTauri driver, for instance, was fined €40,000 during the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session for referring to some drivers as “retarded”. These sanctions are part of a broader effort to strengthen the FIA’s authority and limit the drivers’ freedom of expression when it is used to spread messages of hate, contrary to F1 values.

In addition to these measures, the FIA has decided to increase the maximum fine that stewards can impose during a Grand Prix. Since the United States Grand Prix last year, this fine has been raised from €250,000 to €1 million. This colossal sum aims to deter drivers and their teams from making inappropriate statements, encouraging them to adopt a blameless behavior. By avoiding these fines, teams will be able to better focus their resources on the development of their single-seaters and infrastructure for the upcoming challenges in Formula 1.