World Rally Championship drivers have penned a strongly-worded statement directed at the FIA regarding its swearing penalties, following a similar act taken by Formula 1 drivers last year.
The World Rally Drivers Alliance [WoRDA] has issued the statement, directed at the sport’s governing body’s President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, making its stance clear on its measures on drivers swearing.
This comes after an incident at this month’s Rally Sweden, at which Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmoux was fined €10,000 and €20,000 suspended for swearing in a television interview.
The incident was adjudged to have contravened Article 12.2.1.l of the FIA International Sporting Code, also broken by Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix last year, the Dutchman being handed a community service penalty for the offence.
The statement says that whilst “competitors must abide by the Referee’s decision,” it goes on to say “In recent months, however, there has been an alarming increase in the severity of the sanctions imposed for minor, isolated and unintentional language lapses. This has reached an unacceptable level.”
The statement also lists four key beliefs from the drivers, which are:
- Common colloquialism cannot be considered and judged as equal to genuine insult or an act of aggression.
- Non mother-tongue speakers may use or repeat terms without full awareness of their meaning and connotation.
- Seconds after an extreme adrenaline spike, it is unrealistic to expect a perfect and systematic control over emotions.
- Rally is Extreme: risk level for the athletes, intensity of the focus, length of the days… all the limits are reached.
The statement goes on to raise the question of where the money paid in fines by the drivers ends-up.
“In such a case we question the relevance and validity of imposing any sort of penalty.
“Moreover, the exorbitant fines are vastly disproportionate to the average income and budget in rallying.
“We are also concerned with the public impression these excessive sums create in the minds of the fans, suggesting this is an industry where money doesn’t matter.
“This also raises a fundamental question where does the money from these fines go?”
It concludes by urging for “a direct communication and engagement between the FIA President and WoRDA members to find a mutually agreeable and urgent solution.”
WRC statement mirrors GPDA action on Ben Sulayem
The WRC drivers’ statement takes a similar approach to that of the statement issued by the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association last November, in which it urged Ben Sulayem to “consider his own tone and language” after the President stated that F1 drivers were sounding like “rappers.”
It creates a further bone of contention between another FIA-backed championship and Ben Sulayem, who has been under fire for such alterations of the rulebook.
Another issue that has been raised is the apparent lack of consistency in its penalties being handed-out to drivers.
At this month’s Jeddah E-Prix, Cupra Kiro driver Dan Ticktum swore on his team radio after being informed by his engineers that he would have to reset his car during a Pit Boost recharge, effectively destroying his hopes of scoring any points in the race.
The Brit escaped without punishment, but it is believed that it was due to the broadcast not being aired on the race’s TV coverage.
This however could play into Ben Sulayem’s threat, made at an FIA Officials summit earlier this month, that he is considering looking-into the possibility of a form of ‘shutdown’ of radio communications between driver and team.
READ MORE – Elfyn Evans wins Rally Sweden by a whisker
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