Jos Verstappen slams son's FIA swearing penalty as ridiculous

FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has been clamping down on foul language Formula 1 drivers sometimes use over the team radio or even in interviews, as it seems he has nothing better to do these days.

Verstappen junior was the first victim of Ben Sulayem's latest mandate, and the triple F1 champion was given a penalty that would require him to do some community service.

The Red Bull Racing driver was clearly unhappy about the penalty and responded by giving very brief answers in post-qualifying and post-race FIA press conferences in Singapore while meeting with the media outside and giving them all the answers they wanted.

Now, Verstappen's father, Jos, weighed in on the matter and told Motorsport.com: "I think that is the most ridiculous thing.

"I don't think the FIA is doing a very good job," Verstappen Sr added, joking: "But I won't say too much about this!"

Jos Verstappen was speaking at the East Belgian Rally on Saturday, where he finished fourth, and pointed out: "But we also see it in rally."

Jos was referring to an incident involving French WRC driver Sébastien Ogier, who was given a suspended € 30,000 fine by the FIA after comments he directed at officials at the Acropolis Rally in Greece earlier in September.

Ogier took a similar stance to Verstappen following his FIA fine, also giving brief answers to the media in Rally Chile stage-end interviews.

When asked why he did what he did, Ogier responded: "We have been told by the top of the FIA to shut our mouths."