The FIA’s latest missive, announcing changes to the governing body’s sporting code that could see drivers banned for swearing or speaking out against the organisation, is not only draconian. It is repressive and threatening.
The changes, which are applied across all FIA-endorsed championships and includes team principals, would see international-level drivers punished with a €40,000 fine for a breach of the rules. A second offence increases to €80,000 and a suspended one-month suspension from competing. A third offence would incur a €120,000 penalty and a one-month racing ban.
F1 drivers, representing the pinnacle of motorsport, would be levied with four times the fines listed above. It is a staggering and serious threat that comes after a crackdown on driver behaviour from the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has made it clear he will not tolerate swearing.
It is uncertain why Ben Sulayem has focused his attention on this particular area, and it is particularly perturbing just how such rule changes have been rushed through ahead of the new season rather than waiting for the World Motorsport Council to convene virtually on 26 February.
Autosport understands there has been no consultation with teams. One insider has suggested the move was a “power play” from the FIA president to control F1 drivers, who have been increasingly vocal about his running of the organisation both personally and through the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association [GPDA]. George Russell, a GPDA director, said he and his fellow members were “a bit fed up” with the FIA leadership.
The BBC claim the regulation change was “pushed through on a ‘snap e-vote and with no consultation with other stakeholders or the GPDA or the FIA’s own drivers’ commission’”.
The FIA says the changes are designed to “enhance transparency and consistency” and bring motorsport more in line with other sporting governing bodies when it comes to punishments. It also says that the decisions would be made by race stewards, who have the power to take them in “mitigating circumstances”.
GPDA director Russell has previously stated that he and other F1 drivers are “a bit fed up” with the current governance
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
An FIA spokesperson said: “The new appendix to the FIA International Sporting Code (ISC) aims to further enhance transparency and consistency in decision-making.
“All major governing bodies…
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