Formula 1 drivers lash out at FIA chief Mohammed Ben Sulayem amid ongoing blasphemy row

Formula 1 drivers have asked the FIA ​​to treat them like adults amid a row over blasphemy in the sport and called on president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to consider his own ‘language’.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished by asking the Dutch driver to ‘achieve some work for the public good’ after calling his car a ‘s***’ at a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix in recent weeks.

In an interview with Autosport ahead of the race, Ben Sulayem said grid stars had a responsibility to stop swearing on the radio and should not act like rappers.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who asked Verstappen to ignore the sanction, said he believed the comments had a “racial element” as the controversy grew.

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, of which Mercedes driver George Russell is a director, has since weighed in on their reaction and criticized Ben Sulayem’s attitude.

“There is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and the more mundane swearing you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object or driving situation, such as an F1 car,” reads an open letter from the GDPA. Read on behalf of the Grand Prix Drivers.

“We call on the FIA ​​president to consider his own tone and language when speaking to or about our member drivers in a public forum or elsewhere.”

‘Our members are professional drivers who compete in Formula 1, the pinnacle of international motor sports. They are gladiators and put on a great show for the fans every race weekend.

‘Moreover, our members are adults. ‘There is no need to be instructed by the media on trivial matters such as wearing jewelery or panties.’

Hamilton had a long-running duel with Ben Sulayem over the wearing of jewelry in the Mercedes cockpit.

Hamilton was forced to remove his nose stud ahead of the 2022 British Grand Prix before receiving a medical exemption from the FIA ​​to have the piercing due to ‘concerns about deformity’ the following season.

The GDPA letter also addresses concerns about where money from fines is distributed and calls for transparency from the sport’s governing body.

The letter continued: ‘The GPDA has expressed its view on numerous occasions that fines to drivers are inappropriate for our sport.’

‘For the last three years we have asked the FIA ​​president to share the details and strategy of how the FIA’s financial penalties are allocated and where the funds are spent.

‘We also conveyed our concerns about the negative image that financial penalties bring to sports.

‘We once again demand that the FIA ​​president ensure financial transparency and engage in direct, open dialogue with us.’

The PA news agency has contacted the FIA ​​for comment.