{"id":275740,"date":"2025-04-07T01:12:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T01:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/formula-one-drivers-dont-want-to-be-treated-like-kids-write-open-letter-to-fia\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T01:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T01:12:34","slug":"formula-one-drivers-dont-want-to-be-treated-like-kids-write-open-letter-to-fia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/formula-one-drivers-dont-want-to-be-treated-like-kids-write-open-letter-to-fia\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula One drivers don\u2019t want to be treated like kids, write open letter to FIA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Formula One drivers have had enough of being pulled up by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de l\u2019Automobile (FIA) for swearing on the team radio and in press conferences.<\/p>\n

In an open letter the Grand Prix Drivers\u2019 Association (GPDA) has asked the FIA to stop treating them like kids and also called on FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to \u2018consider his own tone and language\u2019 when talking about F1 drivers.<\/p>\n

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In September Sulayem had compared the swearing by F1 drivers to that of rappers and had angered former world champion Lewis Hamilton who said there was a \u2018racial element\u2019 to the comment.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That\u2019s them and we are (us),\u201d Sulayem had said.<\/p>\n

The GPDA has now hit back at FIA\u2019s policing of the words they use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as an F1 car, or a driving situation. We urge the FIA president to consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n

The letter also told the FIA not to interfere in what drivers wear during a Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFurther, our members are adults. They do not need to be given instructions by the media about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewellery or underpants,\u201d the GPDA letter said.<\/p>\n

The FIA had also clamped down on drivers wearing jewelry and having piercings.<\/p>\n

The drivers have also stated that they are unhappy at the FIA using fines as a punishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past three years, we have called upon the FIA president to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA\u2019s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent. We have also relayed our concerns about the negative image financial fines bring to the sport,\u201d the GPDA open letter said.<\/p>\n

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After the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had said that his punishment for swearing was \u201cridiculous\u201d.<\/p>\n

Back then Vertsappen, who is a Red Bull driver, had been told by the FIA to do work for \u2018public interest\u2019 after he used poor language to describe the performance of his car.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n