FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has seemingly warned that removal of team radio off Formula 1 television broadcasts is possible, amid his clampdown on bad language from drivers.
Last year, under Ben Sulayem’s stewardship, the sport’s governing body introduced amendments to its International Sporting Code, enabling hefty punishments on drivers for supposed misconduct.
Infamously, Max Verstappen was the first recipient of such a punishment, receiving a one-day community service order for swearing in a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc was the second, handed a $10,000 fine – $5,000 suspended – for swearing at a similar media event at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
However, the punishments for the drivers are there should stewards wish to implement them, to be used at their discretion.
Naturally, drivers will be potentially inclined to use bad language mid-race over the radio in the midst of adrenaline, but Ben Sulayem is seemingly of the mind that the context is not going to allow for leeway.
Speaking at an FIA officials summit at the Circuito del Jarama, Ben Sulayem, in a video published by Spanish publication SoyMotor, suggested that all options to combat this are on the table.
“Do we go on and then shut down the radios of live communications? Maybe. Do we delay it? Maybe,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things we will work [on] with our promoters. We are still the owners of the championship.”
It is not entirely clear if Ben Sulayem was suggesting a blanket ban on all radio communications or just removing them off the airwaves, however the latter is the more probable.
Radio communications within a Grand Prix are broadcast with delays, to allow for any swear words to be bleeped-out, however on premium subscription packages, any exchange between drivers and the pit wall are played in real time, something that could be affected by any potential Ben Sulayem-led arbitrations.
Could comments reignite debate with drivers?
It is fair to say that Ben Sulayem has been at odds with F1 drivers since the introduction of the misconduct rules, with Verstappen seemingly becoming a martyr after his penalty in Singapore.
At the same race weekend, Ben Sulayem likened the drivers’ in-car language to that of “rappers,” which sparked racism concerns from Lewis Hamilton.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association released a statement in November, claiming that the President should “consider his own tone and language”.
Ben Sulayem later responded, claiming the way he runs the organisation was “none of their [the drivers’] business”.
The Emirati’s tenure, having taken-over from Jean Todt a little over three years ago, has perhaps been, in terms of his relationship with the drivers, one of the most fraught in the organisation’s history, and his fresh comments could instigate a further battle of wills with those behind the wheel.
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