Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has urged the FIA to prioritize more important issues following the “swear-gate” controversy in Singapore. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been pushing for a reduction in swearing from drivers during broadcasts, which led to the three-time Formula 1 world champion receiving a community service penalty after using explicit language in a press conference. This followed Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s earlier comments stressing the importance of curbing such behavior.
The Dutchman responded by boycotting the Singapore post-qualifying FIA press conference, instead gathering journalists in a separate setting. After the Marina Bay event, he hinted that the ongoing controversy could even accelerate his retirement from F1.
Lewis Hamilton labeled Max Verstappen’s penalty as “a joke” and encouraged him to reject it, though he supported Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s broader call to reduce swearing. However, Hamilton added a critique, pointing out what he perceived as a “racial element” in the FIA president’s comparison of drivers to rappers. Charles Leclerc, set to become the teammate of Lewis Hamilton in the Italian side starting from the 2025 Formula 1 campaign, also supported the push for cleaner language but expressed that the FIA should be focusing on more pressing matters.
“I think there are other priorities for the FIA to look at, at the moment,” – the Ferrari driver explained – “We are adults at the end, and we are one of the only sports where we hear the driver speak during the actual race. I would return the favour to the FIA to ask them to maybe take out some of our bad words and not broadcast it as much. It is something quite easy to do. For us to control our words when you are driving a car at 300kph between walls on a street track, it is quite tricky. We are humans after all, so I don’t see it as much of a priority for now.” Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc pointed out.
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