FIA president Ben Sulayem ponders ‘improvements’ to swearing rules

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said on Monday he was considering "improvements" to rules that impose heavy sanctions for misconduct, including swearing, in Formula One and other series.

Competitors in rallying and Formula One have been at loggerheads with the Emirati, who will be up for re-election at the end of the year, over a crackdown on bad language during events.

World championship rally drivers, who had openly condemned the fines, made a breakthrough last week when they reached a compromise to divide events into a controlled zone and an uncontrolled one.

"After constructive feedback from drivers across our seven FIA world championships, I am considering making improvements to appendix B," Ben Sulayem said on his Instagram account.

"As a former rally driver, I understand the demands they face better than most."

Ben Sulayem said appendix B, which was amended in January with tougher penalties, was a key part of the International Sporting Code but "humans make the rules and humans can improve the rules".

Further details were expected later in the week, with Formula One racing in Miami.

Appendix B covers stewards' penalty guidelines, setting out punishments for misconduct including words, deeds or writings that might have caused moral injury to the FIA or motorsport in general.

A first offence in Formula One incurs a €40,000 (R845,146) fine, rising to €80,000 (R1.7m) for the second and €120,000 (R2.5m) with a one-month suspension and deduction of championship points for a third breach.

Stewards "retain the discretion to take into account any mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances as well as the nature and location of the event, to tailor the penalty to the specific situation".

That has been seen in Formula One when Williams driver Carlos Sainz escaped sanction for an expression used in a press conference this month.

Estonian rally driver Ott Tanak, world champion in 2019, said at the weekend there had been very positive progress with the FIA.

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, who had to do work of public interest last year for swearing, bit his lip in response to what he thought was an unfair punishment during this month's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"I cannot share my opinion about it because I might get penalised," he told reporters.