SINGAPORE: After an incident where Max Verstappen used vulgar language at the Singapore Grand Prix in September last year, the FIA announced that the racer would be penalized by having him do a “work of public interest.”
F1’s governing body fleshed out Verstappen’s punishment on Monday (Dec 9), saying that he will work together in Rwanda with the junior motorsport competitors as part of the grassroots development program organized by the Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC).
Verstappen will be in the country later this week for the FIA Awards Ceremony, where he’ll receive the trophy for winning the drivers’ championship. The Red Bull driver bested British driver Lando Morris by 63 points at the season’s end in Abu Dhabi.
The ceremony will be held in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, on Friday, Dec 13.
“The activity will involve an FIA affordable cross car built locally in Rwanda by the RAC from blueprints provided by the FIA,” the organization said in a statement.
The Singapore Grand Prix incident
At a press conference before the Formula 1 event in Singapore on Sept 22, Verstappen used vulgar words to describe his car.
The incident caused FIA’s stewards to summon the driver to appear before them after they had reviewed the audio transcript of what Verstappen had said at the time.
They then issued a statement that said, “It is the policy of the FIA to ensure that language used in its public forums, such as press conferences, meets generally accepted standards for all audiences and broadcasts.”
They added that participants in the World Championships should be role models “both inside and outside the sport” and described the language he had used as generally considered to be “‘coarse, rude’ or may ‘cause offence’ and is not considered suitable for broadcast.’”
“This is ‘Misconduct’ as defined in Art 20 of the International Sporting Code and is a breach of Art 12.2.1.k,” the stewards added, though they acknowledged that what the racer had said had not been directed to any person.
Verstappen told the stewards that because English is not his first language, the word he had used “is ordinary in speech as he learned it,” although he also apologized for his behaviour.
Charles Leclerc, an F1 driver for Ferrari, was fined for a similar offence at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Later, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association wrote an open letter asking the FIA to treat them like adults, in large part due to Verstappen and Leclerc’s penalties. /TISG
