Sky Sports analyst sees indomitable Verstappen: 'Says what he wants'
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F1 News
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
The rulebook in Formula 1 is already incredibly thick, and only more rules seem to be added, including harsher penalties coming in for swearing. Still, according to Karun Chandhok, there is plenty of room for personalities on the F1 grid.
The FIA recently announced new penalties regarding swearing for drivers. For their first offence, drivers will already be fined 40,000 euros. After a third incident, points in the championship can even be deducted.
Max Verstappen received a community service penalty in Singapore for swearing during a press conference, with the Dutchman extremely unhappy at that. Later in the season, the Grand Prix Drivers Association released a statement making it clear that several drivers felt the penalties were too harsh and wanted insight into where the penalty money was going.
Instead of fewer penalties, the FIA has opted for more penalties. But according to Chandhok, there is plenty of room for personalities and characters in the sport, with many readying themselves for the 2025 season.
Plenty of room for personalities like Verstappen
"I think that is society. The world is a different place. You work in the auto industry, you work in any industry today, the world is changing, the world is more politically correct. And in some ways it's good," the Sky Sports analyst said in the Evo India podcast.
Max Verstappen is the first to come to mind: "I look at someone like Max. He speaks his mind. He says what he thinks. And someone like Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, when they have had a good day, they say they have a good day. When they have a bad day, they say they have a bad day. They are very open about it. That's just the world we live in."
Chandhok does recognise that people are not speaking out as much as they used to, but he does not think that is a bad thing: "People aren't going to be as politically incorrect as perhaps they used to be. But I don't think that is always a bad thing. I think it's just different. But we still have great characters," concluded the former F1 driver.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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