Swearing on team radio won’t incur penalties – unless aimed at officials
The FIA has clarified the new swearing rules after the subject came up in Friday evening’s Formula 1 drivers’ briefing in Melbourne.
The new guidelines and table of fines have been a major talking point in recent weeks with drivers concerned about the scale of potential penalties.
However it was made clear that team radio conversations are exempt, and that the main focus of the new swearing guidelines is on press conferences and similar situations.
The FIA’s call not to take action on Dan Ticktum’s colourful rant in the recent Jeddah Formula E race served as an informal precedent for what would happen in F1.
That approach was confirmed by steward Garry Connelly in Friday’s briefing after drivers brought up the subject.
The FIA view is that car-to-pit conversations are “private” and the fact that some are broadcast and others aren’t mean that the stewards won’t take any action.
However the FIA also stressed that any abuse of stewards, the race director or any other officials in radio conversations would be subject to an investigation and potentially a penalty. The FIA made the point that online abuse – which can be stoked by driver comments – has led to some stewards deciding that they no longer want to serve in the role.
Drivers were also reminded that the size of any fines was at the discretion of the stewards, and wouldn’t necessarily be as high as the published numbers.
Gravel traps were another topic of conversation in the briefing after were stones thrown onto the track at Turn 6 in practice, causing a red flag at one point.
The plan is for the track to be swept in that area between qualifying sessions on Saturday. The track will also be cleared during the race should a safety car or red flag create the opportunity to do so.
Adam Cooper F1 