F1 drivers take aim at the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem with statement

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association have taken aim at the FIA and its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over a number of issues dominating F1.

On Thursday morning, the GPDA released a statement on behalf of the F1 grid, addressing a number of issues.

The statement made reference to the swearing row, which has seen Max Verstappen receive community service and Charles Leclerc fined for using expletives in FIA press conferences, while the GDPA called for president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to “consider his tone and language”.

The statement read: “As is the case with every sport, competitors must abide by the referee’s decision, whether they like it or not, indeed whether they agree with it or not. That is how sport works. The Drivers (our members) are no different, and fully understand that.

“Our members are professional drivers, racing in Formula 1, the pinnacle of international motorsport. They are gladiators and every racing weekend they put on a great show for the fans.

“With regards to swearing, there is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as a Formula 1 car, or a driving situation.

“We urge the FIA President to also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Further, our members are adults, they do not need to be given instructions via the media, about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewellery and underpants.

“The GPDA has, on countless occasions, expressed its view that Driver monetary fines are not appropriate for our Sport. For the past 3 years, we have called upon the FIA President to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA’s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent.

“We have also relayed our concerns about the negative image financial fines bring to the Sport. We once again request that the FIA President provides financial transparency and direct, open dialogue with us. All stakeholders (FIA, F1, the Teams and the GPDA) should jointly determine how and where the money is spent for the benefit of our Sport.

“The GPDA wishes to collaborate in a constructive way with all the stakeholders, including the FIA President, in order to promote our great Sport for the benefit of everyone who works in it, pays for it, watches it, and indeed loves it. We are playing our part.”