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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has asked for a “civilised” approach to the current controversy over swearing, in the wake of the FIA punishing Max Verstappen for use of a swear word.
In Singapore’s Thursday press conference, Verstappen was reflecting on the previous race in Azerbaijan had described his car as “f***ed” – to which the FIA took a dim view and handed him the equivalent of community service.
Verstappen was incensed by this and thus took the approach of saying as little as possible in the following press conferences, instead choosing to speak to the media outside.
Wolff recounted the time that he and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur were hauled in front of the stewards for using bad language in Las Vegas, but noted that greater nuance was perhaps needed.
“I was at the stewards last year after Las Vegas and it was quite an enjoyable experience! Fred and I were there at the same time. He was a bit more worried,” Wolff said.
“I said to them ‘it was the first time since school that I was called to the headmaster, and I promise you it is going to be the last’.
“Having said that, I think there is an argument that big swearing and being rude on the radio is not something that should happen. If it is so bad it is disrespectful, towards the other side of the line, there are people at home watching it.
“The F-word is common language now but it is always the context that makes it. We want to have emotions, we want to have raw moments and we understand that the drivers are in a state of extremes.
“But if we can dim it down a little bit then that is good for all of us, but I wouldn’t necessarily ban the F-word because I think there is worse and worse words than that.”
“I don’t think that using the F-word in a press conference is the worst thing. But OK if we need to adapt, all of us adapt our language, including team principals then we will look at it more. It is more civilised like this.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner added that the situation could have been dealt with in a different manner, feeling that a solution that avoided the same blowback might have been more fitting.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in the garage with Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
He denied that he had asked Verstappen to tone down his language in the car, noting that the difference should be in the context between media sessions and in the car.
“I think that Max has made his feelings clear on it,” Horner explained.
“Of course, all these drivers are role models, but language that’s used in everyday life…I think it would have been perhaps better dealt with slightly differently, which would have avoided any awkwardness.
“I’m not sure how much he’s talking in the FIA press conference now but I assume it’s relatively little.
“I suppose the difference was between a press conference and in the car, but for a driver who English is not his native tongue…
“We’ve seen members of the royal family telling photographers to ‘take a f***ing photo’, so reactions need to be relative.”
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording and Ben Hunt
