Max Verstappen start a campaign against the FIA (International Motorsport Federation) with the support of almost the entire paddock (all the teams) to try to get the organization to back down on the prohibition of foul words, which the drivers emit on the radio or in the framework of official interviews.
Verstappen’s bad temper
It is well known that Max Verstappen has not made any great friends since joining F1 in 2015 at Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls). His outbursts, unkind expressions towards his team and colleagues on the track, and disobedience were a constant in his career. Gianpiero Lambiasehis on-track engineer, can attest to this.
It is enough to remember the 2022 Brazilian GP, when he had already been crowned champion and after disobeying a direct team order, through unreproducible words on the radio, he made his teammate, Czech Pricelost the runner-up position, against Leclerc.
In 2023, in the Azerbaijan GP Sprint, furious at not being able to pass Lewis Hamiltonattacked him, while shouting insults over the radio. Their wheels made contact and their RB19 practically ran over Hamilton’s Mercedes, ending up in the gravel.
This season, he was involved in another incident at the Austrian GP with Lando Norrisyour friend. In an aggressive maneuver, he did not leave him any space and after colliding, the McLaren driver had to abandon. And even more so, at the Singapore GP, after complaining all the time on the radio about the performance of the RB20, saying that it was shit…, was sanctioned by the FIA, which imposed
public interest. Verstappen, as a sign of protest, imposed silence on himself in the official interviews, answering with little more than monosyllables.
Verstappen and the support of the paddock
It seems unbelievable but both Norris and Hamilton, and all those with whom he has been involved in an episode of rage, offered their support in an interview and considered that the measure was unfair and according to Hamilton, he should not comply with it. few days later Alex Wurzpresident of the drivers’ association, organized a meeting with the president of the FIA, Mohamed Ben Zulayem to talk about the topic.
Far from remaining on the sidelines, Verstappen began a protest campaign, which was joined by CEO and team leaders, such as James Vowleswho expressed that while they run at more than 300 km/h and risk their lives, subjected to g force, in difficult conditions, like in Singapore with almost 60 in the cockpit, plus the adrenaline of the race, the pilots do not have time to choose a communication style.
Another thing that the pilots highlighted is that The radio messages are first heard by the FIA and the race stewards and they may well choose not to broadcast them, but they do so to liven up the spectacle.. According to Fred Vasseur, head of the Ferrari team, this conflict could end with radio transmissions.
For Verstappen, the FIA already demands a lot from the drivers by increasing the number of races, Sprints and commercial and marketing commitments, to have to deal, according to him, with these ‘antics’, as he described this type of sanctions. .
The pilots will meet with the Union and the Pilots Association to evaluate how they are going to face the attacks of the organization. For now it seems that Mohamed Ben Zulayen could be accused by the rappers of discrimination, saying that the foul words that the pilots say are typical of rap.
