'FIA boss Ben Sulayem interfered with Verstappen's penalty for swearing'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
It was Mohammed Ben Sulayem who made sure Max Verstappen was punished after he used the word 'f***ed' when describing his car in Singapore. At least that is the opinion of Tim Mayer, the chief steward who has been sacked by the same FIA president.
The Emirati recently revealed in an interview that he wants to reduce swearing in motorsport as much as possible. He now wants to do this by severely punishing drivers who swear during FIA events. Verstappen was given community service in Singapore, and later, Charles Leclerc was fined for the same 'offence'.
"His [Ben Sulayem] view is that the drivers need to be penalised for swearing - and what has happened since reflects that," Mayer told the BBC. This sounds remarkable, as stewards are supposed to be independent. "There are times when he has directly involved himself in making his views known. Not with the stewards directly, but via his staff."
Mayer won't act childishly
Mayer questions whether drivers should be punished for swearing. There is a penalty for swearing in the regulations, but whether the stewards should go after drivers if they say a wrong word? "Most drivers, English is their second, third or fourth language and every go-kart kid in the world, it's the first word they are taught in English. There are other ways to handle that kind of thing unless your desire is to flex your muscles."
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton