Martin Brundle has voiced his support of guideline changes made by the FIA, aimed at deterring drivers from swearing as well as other behaviours deemed inappropriate.

This week, the FIA confirmed changes to its International Sporting Code which offered guidelines on the punishments available to race stewards for behaviours such as cursing, making political statements, or causing moral injury to the FIA or its personnel.

Martin Brundle: F1 drivers are role models

With FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem making it clear that he wishes to stamp out behaviours such as drivers swearing, the FIA outlined changes to several Articles of the International Sporting Code (ISC).

The ISC is a set of rules and guidelines which apply to all motorsport series it governs, not just F1, and the new ‘Appendix B’ detailed areas such as misconduct, the making or wearing of political statements, and making statements or actions which can be viewed as morally injurious to the FIA or its officials.

The punishments start at €40,000 for a first offence, which would have been applicable to Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc’s use of the word ‘f**k’ in two separate FIA press conferences during 2024.

Second offences trigger €80,000 fines as well as the possibility of a one-month suspension, while a third offence can trigger a €120,000 fine and a one-month suspension as well as an undefined championship points deduction.

The hard-line stance taken by the FIA comes after the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association – comprising of all 20 drivers – engaged the FIA in meetings over the weekend of the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, asking for greater transparency and consistency when it comes to these areas of behaviour.

But while the action taken may not be of surprise for the drivers, the details of the punishments are believed to have caused widespread consternation – the GPDA is yet to respond to the ISC changes.

One vocal supporter of the changes made is former F1 driver turned broadcaster Martin Brundle, who believes the deterrents now in place put the impetus on the drivers to behave like the role models expected of such a high-profile international sport.

With F1 moving to bring its Code in line with that of the International Olympic Committee and the NFL,  the Sky F1 broadcaster compared the situation to that of the respect a rugby player must have for any given referee while playing a match.

“I think we’re role models, F1 drivers are role models,” he said in an appearance on Sky Sports News.

“You don’t need to gratuitously swear in a press conference, in the heat of the moment, in the car, full of adrenaline, full of despair, happiness, whatever – I get it completely.

“I don’t personally, it doesn’t feel right to me. What I love about rugby is how they respect the referee, and I think F1 should be the same.”

More on the FIA and its governance

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Max Verstappen was one of the more prolific offenders in F1 2024, with the Dutch driver’s willingness to swear seeing him criticising the actions taken against him following the FIA slapping him with community service in response to him saying “f**k” in an FIA press conference in Singapore.

Scoffing the fuss made about his use of the word, Verstappen made his point clear by opting against being an active participant in any further FIA press conferences that weekend. While he appeared in the sessions the regulations commanded of him, he chose to politely decline to answer questions in his normal fashion and, instead, held his own impromptu press conferences for waiting journalists in the paddock.

With Verstappen making his stance clear, and also decrying punishments awarded to him by the stewards as he referred to them as “stupid idiots” in Abu Dhabi, Brundle highlighted this as being an example of unacceptable behaviour.

“You’re role models for all the drivers coming through,” he said.

“So, if you’re dirty on track, or you’re cheating the track limits, or calling the FIA stewards ‘stupid idiots’ to give you one example, there are degrees of this and how heavy-handed you want to be is a whole new story.

“But I don’t mind there being some rules for our F1 drivers who are great kids, being role models. I’m calm with that.”

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