Max Verstappen victim of a ‘storm in a teacup’ in FIA ‘fight not worth fighting’

Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes the FIA’s anti-swearing comments are a “bit of a storm in a teacup”, with Max Verstappen having fallen foul in Singapore.

Verstappen was ordered to carry out work of public service for describing his car as “f***ed”, becoming the first driver to be penalised under the FIA’s expanded misconduct rules that include swearing in public, but former F1 driver Chandhok believes that punishing drivers for this “feels a little bit harsh.”

Max Verstappen punished under new FIA swearing changes, Chandhok believes rules ‘a little bit harsh’

The drivers have roundly spoken out against the ruling, with Verstappen himself decrying his punishment as “super silly” after the race.

Others have shared opinions that, while drivers are seen as role models around the world, particularly among young Formula 1 fans, their language in the heat of battle is often unregulated – and anything that is broadcast to the wider public is censored before it is played.

Writing in a Reddit AMA [‘ask me anything’] for Sky Sports F1 and responding on the subject of the FIA clamping down on swearing, Chandhok replied: “This is a bit of a storm in a teacup to be honest.

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“Yes, I get it. The drivers are ambassadors of the sport and you don’t want them swearing, and putting off young kids particularly.

“But equally they’re athletes. There’s adrenaline pumping and penalising them for speaking out when they’re emotional just feels a little bit harsh.

“I think we want to see characters. We don’t want to see robots. We want to see them wear their heart on their sleeves. And also we have to recognise that for a lot of them English is their second language.

“Let’s say we get an Indian driver or a driver from Japan or China. Are we going to have translators for every language sitting there monitoring every word? It sounds like a fight that I’m not sure is worth fighting.”

Verstappen said he told his fellow drivers about his punishment from the governing body, which garnered an incredulous response.

“I wrote in the GPDA the ruling,” he said.

“Everyone was almost laughing, you know, like, ‘What the hell is that?’ basically. It is very, very silly.”

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