Poo and clown emojis in a WhatsApp group forces FIA Stewards to dish out a fine

MP Motorsports, racing in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) series, were hit with a suspended fine of €2,000 (£1,700).

A clash between MP driver Sami Meguetounif and Van Amersfoort’s Joshua Dufek at Spa last weekend caused the furore.

The FIA Stewards deemed it a “racing incident” and communicated their decision in a WhatsApp group that includes team members.

But the Stewards noted the response: “After stewards decision 17 (involving an MP Motorsport driver) was posted on the Notice Board WhatsApp group, a team member of MP Motorsport displayed an emoticon symbolising ‘a swirl of brown poo’ and removed it after a few minutes, to replace it with a new emoticon symbolising ‘a clown’ and removed it after a few minutes.”

The Stewards ruled it to be a breach of sporting regulations.

“Any behaviour non-compliant with the spirit of the Championship, included breach of morals and sporting ethics, nuisance to the higher interests of motor sport, moral or material loss suffered by officials on the part of a member of a team/competitor, a driver, or his entourage, will be the subject of sanctions,” they noted.

“The stewards determined that aforementioned comments were not appropriate as it was disrespectful of the decision taken.”

The fine is suspended until the end of the year and must be paid if there is a repeat offence.

The MP Motorsports team member who posted the emojis has been removed from the WhatsApp group.