Max Verstappen becomes first F1 star to be punished for swearing as Red Bull star summoned to stewards
MAX VERSTAPPEN has been punished for swearing as the FIA look to steer away from bad language.
The Red Bull star was summoned to the stewards after his pre-race press conference on Thursday.
GettyMax Verstappen has been punished by the FIA[/caption]
That’s because he breached rules regarding swearing after letting an F-bomb slip as he spoke to press.
Referring to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks ago, where Verstappen finished fifth, he said: “The car was f***ed.”
The Dutchman was summoned to the stewards for his comment, which was in breach of the sporting code.
Stewards at the Singapore Grand Prix decided that Verstappen has to “accomplish some work of public interest” for using language they deemed “coarse, rude or may cause offence”.
The details of the work Verstappen must do have to be agreed between him and the FIA.
A statement read: “The driver explained that the word used is ordinary in speech as he learned it, English not being his native language.
“While the stewards accept that this may be true, it is important for role models to learn to be mindful when speaking in public forums, in particular when not under any particular pressure.
“Verstappen apologised for his behaviour.”
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The sanction comes after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem warned against the use of foul language in the sport.
He said: “I mean, we have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music.
“We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us].
“We have to be careful with our conduct. We need to be responsible people. And now with the technology, everything is going live and everything is going to be recorded. At the end of the day, we have to study that to see: do we minimise what is being said publicly?
“Because imagine you are sitting with your children and watching the race and then someone is saying all of this dirty language. I mean, what would your children or grandchildren say? What would you teach them if that is your sport?”
