Formula 1: FIA dug their own hole with ongoing Max Verstappen issue

As a seasoned gamer with years of experience under my belt, I can’t help but feel a sense of bemusement when it comes to the recent FIA’s crackdown on drivers swearing. Now, don’

Currently, we are 18 races into the historic 24-race 2024 Formula 1 season that is breaking records. The fierce fight for the world championship between three-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Lando Norris from McLaren has been intensifying for quite a while now.

Instead, the primary focus prior to last Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit centered around driver profanity.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem urged drivers to reduce their use of profanity, and later, Verstappen was penalized for using inappropriate language during a press conference. The stewards instead imposed on him a requirement to complete some tasks benefiting the community, which is more commonly known as “community service”, for his use of foul speech.

I’m not here to pass judgment on what’s proper or improper. While I acknowledge the viewpoint that children will curse regardless, I believe it’s important to consider athletes as role models. They are frequently admired and looked up to, whether they like it or not, and there is a certain level of accountability attached to this status.

To clarify, these athletes aren’t just trying to gain approval from peers or internet users by posting provocative comments online in order to garner a few likes on Twitter. Instead…

At intense moments, words might slip out that you later regret. In Formula 1, these intense moments are often amplified significantly, as drivers race side by side at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.

Some people talk more than others, and it’s true that certain situations are often thought of as being more manageable compared to others.

But even then, these are athletes who are constantly hooked up to equipment which allows them to be heard by pretty much anybody. Athletes in other sports are not held under such a microscope.

Could you envision a scenario where each NFL player’s voice is audible to every spectator throughout the entire game?

During live, international broadcasts, drivers aren’t typically using profanity. Any inappropriate language used over in-race radios is censored or “bleeped” out in these broadcasts. If you want to hear the uncensored conversations, fans have to make an effort to seek out those versions.

As a gamer, I’d rephrase it like this: “I think the FIA could’ve managed this situation way more smoothly. If they had taken it seriously enough, perhaps we could’ve resolved it privately and saved some public drama. A bit more effort from us drivers would have made all the difference.

Instead, the FIA president publicly blasted the entire grid.

The FIA’s casual approach to the issue led to an inevitable backlash, not only from the drivers but also from the broader fan community. This incident, which involved a driver using profanity, has unexpectedly brought the fanbase together, even uniting those who disapprove of such language and do not use it themselves.

I still personally can’t even believe we’re having this discussion.

Another thing that’s ridiculous is the whole element of community service. The whole idea of community service, in itself, is not at all a bad thing. Community service is “work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause”.

Fair enough, isn’t it?

Nevertheless, the FIA has made a farce out of this matter by handling it haphazardly, leading spectators to sympathize with the drivers for harboring feelings of disdain towards it.

Typically, it would raise some eyebrows or appear hypocritical for Lewis Hamilton to tell another driver to avoid community service. However, in this specific case, perhaps the one performing community service should be Sulayem instead.

His stubborn refusal to let things be or handle them maturely is what ultimately led to this rather amusing chaos. He’s the one who created this predicament, and now it seems he’ll either try to fix it (or possibly make it even worse). Initially, it wasn’t a problem at all, but he transformed it into one, and now it appears the dam has burst.

2024-09-24 13:32

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