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Wolff has his say on the FIA swearing saga: "It's clear"
Toto Wolff has had his say on the swearing saga that is still a big talking point in the world of F1. There have been plenty of times when the Austrian team boss has been guilty of using bad language during races or FIA press conferences, but the Mercedes team principal has said to GPblog and others when swearing is and isn't acceptable in the sport.
Speaking in Bahrain during winter testing, Wolff describes F1 as a "gentlemen's sport" with drivers as role models: "We are high-tech. We represent that. It's different to more mainstream sports. I see us a little bit rugby for me sophisticated and nobody would ever say a word to an official. So I don't think we should be swearing about officials, that's for sure. And that's why also the FIA needs to protect that. It's clear."
'Sometimes the F-word is fine'
Wolff continued on, saying mutual respect is important to him: "For me, it is about respect, about respect to your competitors, respect to the officials, not insulting anybody, whether it's your own people or whether it's an adverse competitor out there on the track. And it makes a big difference whether you use the F word in the context of your own driving or out of emotion, because I'm using that, if I'm annoyed.
"But when it is directed in the car to another driver, to an official or to your team, I think this is what we need to prohibit and we need to make a difference, in my opinion, between these two. We don't want to mute the drivers and their emotions."
He then comes up with an example where swearing is not justified: "If we're in a press conference, if we are being interviewed, that's a completely different set. But in the car, as long as it's not an insight and as long as it's not disrespectful to somebody else, I would just let it go. But that's my personal opinion," Wolff concluded.
This article was created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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