Formula 1
Sainz: FIA's going too far with in-cockpit language restrictions
Sainz says Formula 1 drivers should make an effort to avoid rude language out of the car, but pleas against muzzling team radio exchanges
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Feb 17, 2025, 10:16 AM
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Carlos Sainz, Williams FW47
Photo by: Williams
Williams driver Carlos Sainz says the FIA's clampdown on swearing is "too much" and thinks it would be bad for Formula 1 if drivers were no longer allowed to show emotion inside the car.
Last month, F1's governing body issued an update to its Sporting Code, featuring a series of stewards' penalty guidelines to handle swearing or other sporting code violations. The new guidelines suggest much stricter penalties ranging from fines of up to 120,000 euro to points deductions and even race bans.
WRC driver Adrien Fourmaux was the first to fall foul of this clampdown at last weekend's Rally Sweden, with the Hyundai driver fined €10,000 and hit with a further suspended €20,000 fine for using “inappropriate language” during a TV interview.
Fourmaux didn't use swear words in relation to someone else, but in the interview the Frenchman said he and his navigator "f*cked up yesterday" on a previous stage.
In F1, where fines are quadrupled compared to other FIA-sanctioned series, there is yet to be an official response from driver association GPDA. But speaking at the launch of Williams FW47, Sainz urged the FIA to make a distinction between swearing inside and outside the car. And while he agreed drivers shouldn't use inappropriate language in official press conferences, he urged the governing body not to clamp down too hard on drivers showing passion and emotion in team radio exchanges.
"F1 drivers should be controlled enough doing press conference and media appearances not to swear, and I am in favour of making an effort as a group – when all the kids are watching us in press conference or in front of the media – to at least have good behaviour and decent vocabulary," the Spaniard said.
"I think that's not very difficult. So, do we need fines, or do we need to be controlled for that? I don't know, but I'm in favour of always being well-spoken and well-mannered in front of microphones and in front of media.
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Williams
"At the same time, do I think this is too much for radio communication and the adrenaline and the pressure that we have inside the car? Yes, I think it's too much what the FIA is trying to achieve with bans and everything, because for me that's a fundamental part of the sport, where you guys get to see the real emotion and real pressure and the real excitement on the voice and even sometimes, unfortunately, a vocabulary of a racing driver."
Sainz worries that F1 will lose some of its character if drivers are muzzled on the radio, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem recently hinting that he is not ruling out shutting down live team radio. Currently, radio messages are already broadcast with a delay on F1's world feed to bleep out swearing.
"And as long as it's not offensive words towards anyone and it's just a swear word, where you just can see I'm being emotional, I don't think that should be too controlled, because then you guys are going to miss out on a lot of stuff that we go through inside the car," Sainz explained. "And trust me, you don't want to put a microphone inside a football pitch and see what [players] are saying, which is an equivalent situation.
"It's good to have those kinds of moments, because you see the real driver. We are already very constrained as to what we can tell you about our teams, about our situations. We already have a lot of media briefings. They already tell us what to say.
"Sometimes I'm not easy on the radio, but when you hear that passion, when you hear those words, even if sometimes we swear on the radio, for me that's a keeper in F1, and that shouldn't be something we should get rid of."
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