Mumbai Mumbai. Formula 1 drivers could be suspended from racing or lose championship points for swearing or making political statements under new rules from the FIA, the series' governing body. The FIA was criticized last year when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were penalized for swearing at an FIA news conference. The measures, published by the FIA on Wednesday, apply to “misconduct”, which the FIA Offensive language and physical assault, or assault, are defined by the FIA and auto racing in general as acts that cause “moral injury or harm.”
Similar punishments also apply for “political, religious and personal statements or comments which specifically violate the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA” without written approval. The new rules apply to an F1 driver's first offence. The penalties and fines, starting at 40,000 euros ($41,600), are labeled as “Guidelines to Assist Stewards”. The standard fine is 10,000 euros, but for F1 drivers the penalty is four times that.
The recommended fine is doubled for a second offence, plus a one-month suspended ban. A third offense within a two-year period carries a proposed fine of 120,000 euros ($125,000) for an F1 driver, a one-month ban and the loss of an unspecified number of championship points. In cases involving political, religious or personal statements, FIA rules also specify that stewards must seek a “public apology and refutation of the comments”.
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