After the Azerbaijan GP, FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem was not very happy about the drivers swearing on the radio during the race. Ahead of the Singapore GP, Sulayem decided to voice his concerns over the matter. But by doing so, he caught the attention of Lewis Hamilton. The British driver said that Ben Sulayem’s statements had a racial element to them.
Drivers using explicit language on track is quite normal in Formula 1. During a race where the car travels over 300 Kph, the adrenaline levels are very high. Hence, we have seen several, if not all, come on the radio and swear about opponents, their own mistakes or their race engineer as well.
Lewis Hamilton hits back at FIA President
While Sulayem made his statement about F1 drivers using less explicit language, he made a comparison to rappers saying that F1 drivers are not like rappers. This comparison came from nowhere and was perceived as stereotypical, which it was.
Lewis Hamilton was definitely not happy about this comparison. He said:
“I don’t like how he’s expressed it, saying that [about] rappers is very stereotypical. You think about most rappers are black. That really kind of points it towards, when he says ‘we’re not like them’… so I think those are the wrong choice of words. There’s a racial element there.”
Hamilton feels that this statement from Ben Sulayem crossed a line. Although the FIA President didn’t directly mention black people, Hamilton thinks there is a racial element here.
🚨 | FIA President, Ben Sulayem, recently made a controversial statement regarding drivers swearing on radios:
“We’re not rappers. There is a difference between our sport, motorsport, and rap music.”
Lewis Hamilton comments on the remarks:
“I don’t like how he’s expressed… pic.twitter.com/i1htQXywdJ
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 19, 2024
Despite showing concern over Ben Sulayem’s choice of words, Hamilton actually sided with the FIA President saying that drivers should watch what they say while driving the car as the entire world is watching.
“When I was 22, I didn’t think of it as much and it was more your emotions are just firing and you’re saying whatever comes to mind, forgetting how many people are listening and the kids that are listening, all those kinds of things,” Hamilton said.
So going forward, we could see the FIA start to fine drivers for using bad language. If this happens, Yuki Tsunoda could see a large bill heading his way… We kid. But there is no doubt that a lot of the drivers won’t be happy with a fine being imposed for bad language.
Do you think the FIA should disallow drivers to use explicit language on the radio? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
