2024-09-19 21:37:23
There will be less swearing in Formula 1 in the future. The president of the International Automobile Federation FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has called on the management of the racing series before the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (2 p.m., live on ORF1) to reduce the amount of swear words in the TV broadcasts.
“We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” said Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver, in an interview with the trade magazine “Autosport”. His words were criticized by leading drivers.
Comparison with rap musicians
“We are not rappers. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not part of that,” stressed the FIA boss. The world association is concerned about the amount of insults coming from the drivers’ cockpits. In the Formula 1 TV signal, curses are overlaid with a beep via radio.
“And now with technology, everything is broadcast live and everything is recorded. Ultimately, we need to look into this to see if we can reduce what is being said publicly,” Ben Sulayem continued. “Imagine you are sitting in front of the TV with your children watching the race and then someone says all these dirty words.”
Verstappen: “Everyone is cursing”
World champion Max Verstappen is not very happy with the way the world governing body is proceeding. “I think people will still swear. If it’s not in this room, then maybe somewhere else. Everyone swears. Some people a bit more than others,” said the Red Bull driver from the Netherlands, who caused a stir this season with a tirade of abuse at the race in Hungary in July.
“In other sports, many people also say bad things when they are full of adrenaline, but they don’t have a microphone with them.” Verstappen has long been bothered by the fact that, in his opinion, too much is broadcast in Formula 1.
“If you don’t broadcast it, nobody will know, only the team. That’s how you deal with these things internally,” said Verstappen on the sidelines of the Singapore Grand Prix. “Even if a five or six-year-old is watching, they will swear at some point anyway. Even if their parents don’t want them to or don’t allow them. They will run around swearing with their friends when they grow up. So that won’t change anything.”
Hamilton criticizes hidden racism
Record champion Lewis Hamilton, who is not known for his outbursts of anger, was particularly offended by the FIA boss’s choice of words. “Most rappers are black,” stressed the Englishman, who likes to produce music himself and is friends with some of the big names in the scene. “I think it was the wrong choice of words. There is a racist element to it.” It is also good for drivers to have emotions. “We are not robots.”
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