Albon and Sainz push back against FIA’s swearing clamp-down

Williams teammates Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have voiced their concern – without once needing to be bleeped, we might add – with the FIA’s plans to hit them with harsh penalties for any choice language this season.

Last month the governing body announced that F1 drivers faced fines of up to €120,000 (about £100k) as well as month-long race bans and a loss of championship points for, um, well… we’re not quite sure.

Apparently the FIA wants to crack down on ‘offensive, insulting, coarse, rude or abusive’ language, or anything that might cause it ‘moral injury’. Whatever that means.

At the launch of Williams’ FW27 on Friday, TG asked Albon – about to begin his fourth straight campaign with the team – how he felt about shelling out for the world’s most expensive swear jar.

“It's a tricky question,” he (diplomatically) replies. “Of course I think we deserve our say, and we don't want this excessive control over our own opinions. I don't think any sport has that.”

He’d earlier revealed to assembled media – including BBC Sport – that the drivers were in talks over how to respond, adding: “It is a delicate matter… do we think it’s right? Of course not.”

TG also asked Albon’s new teammate Carlos Sainz for his thoughts on the long list of punishments that could be heading his way for any verbal slip-ups. “Hey, I expected more! Even more. No, I'm joking.

“What are my thoughts? My thoughts are that F1 drivers should be controlled enough doing press conferences and media appearances to not swear.

“And I am in favour of us as a group to make an effort – you know, when all the kids are watching us – to at least have good behaviour and decent vocabulary. I think that's not very difficult.

“At the same time, do I think this is too much for radio communication and adrenaline and the pressure that we have inside the car? Yes, I think it's too much.

“Because for me that's a fundamental part of the sport, where you guys get to see the real emotion, and the pressure, and the real excitement on the voice.

“And as long as it's not offensive words towards anyone and it's just us swearing – where you just can see I'm being emotional – I don't think that should be too controlled. Because then you guys are gonna miss out [on] a lot of stuff that we go through inside the car.

“Trust me, you don't wanna put a microphone inside a football pitch – which is an equivalent situation – and see what the guys are saying…”

This weekend Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux was fined €10,000 (with another €20k suspended) by WRC stewards for dropping an F-bomb in an interview in the aftermath of Rally Sweden. But it’s not clear if the rules will apply to team radio transmissions: in F1, messages are typically censored before being broadcast.

All of this kicked off in the build-up to last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, when Max Verstappen swore in reference to his car during an official press conference.

The Dutchman then boycotted a string of sanctioned media appearances (holding his own ad hoc sessions in the paddock) in response to being ordered to “accomplish some work of public interest”. That turned out to be a grassroots development event in Rwanda, for which he was accompanied by the FIA president.

Common sense will prevail soon, right? Right?!