Max Verstappen questioned the FIA's clampdown on swearing, while Formula 1 team bosses have weighed in on the controversy that has already sparked debate before the new season begins.
The comments from the four-time Formula 1 world champion, as well as Williams team principal James Vowles and Racing Bulls counterpart Peter Bayer, come after the FIA issued its first fine of the year for language misconduct during a motorsport event, serving as a warning to F1 drivers.
The ruling came during the 2025 Rally Sweden, where Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver Adrien Fourmaux was penalised for inappropriate language.
On the sidelines of the F1 75 LIVE Launch in London, Verstappen and team bosses reacted to the news. The four-time F1 World Champion, who was ordered to serve motorsport's equivalent of community service for swearing in a press conference in Singapore last year, expressed his concerns over the severity of the penalties.
Under the new 2025 regulations, an initial violation of F1's misconduct rules will result in a €40,000 (£34,000) fine, with a second offence doubling to €80,000 (£68,000) and carrying a suspended one-month ban.
Verstappen: It's a lot of money
Despite banking $81-million last year in earnings Verstappen said: "I mean, it's a lot of money. Honestly, from my side I think it's not necessary to be like that with the rules. I think you need to use a bit of common sense.
"Besides that, I prefer that we actually focus on other topics—to try and improve safety, try and improve the overall performance of Formula 1 cars—instead of actually having to focus on all these kind of things. It's a bit unnecessary, I think," added Verstappen, ahead of the F1 75 LIVE event in London today.
The Dutch ace added in a later session: "Of course, I understand that you cannot always swear everywhere you go. I think we all understand that as racing drivers, but sometimes, in the heat of the moment or when you get interviewed, when you're in your car or whatever, you've just had an adrenaline rush or whatever, sometimes things slip out a little bit.
"I think we all grew up, I mean probably most people grew up, even at school or playing football or sports in general, it happens that you use a swear word and I think we shouldn't take it so seriously," explained Verstappen.
Vowles: It's expected in the heat of the moment
Williams team principal James Vowles addressed the issue in a later press conference, offering a nuanced perspective on where language restrictions should be enforced.
Vowles said: "My view is when you are in the car and you are asking some of the most incredible elite athletes in the world to put their life on the line, I think being aware that they may use language that's sensitive at the time is expected. I think anyone else in this room would as well.
Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer revealed that the subject of swearing was discussed in the morning's F1 Commission meeting in London: "Without any spoiler alert, it was a discussion this morning actually at the F1 Commission meeting.
"Interestingly, I think we all agreed that we want to keep those emotions alive. We do have the beeping already from F1 with the delayed broadcast, which is probably taking care of a lot of the emotions.
"As F1, as teams, as the FIA, we have to get together and I'm sure the drivers will want to have a clear briefing of what should be said and not be said. But overall, I think it's going in the right direction, preserving the emotions and not making it too profane at the same time," added Bayer.
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