Carlos Sainz revealed he is in favour of FIA guidelines to stop drivers swearing in press conferences and media appearances, but believes it is “too much” to try and halt swearing on team radio.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem hinted at a potential “shutdown” or delay of team radio transmissions that included foul language this season, as part of the governing body’s wider clampdown on drivers swearing.

Carlos Sainz on where FIA swearing guidelines become ‘too much’

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

There has been a move by the sport’s governing body to introduce harsher punishments for misconduct, bad language and causing “moral injury” to the FIA, with a first infringement resulting in a €40,000 fine for Formula 1 drivers, all the way up to a one-month suspension and potential deduction of World Championship points for a third breach of the rules.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fell foul of misconduct rules for swearing in FIA press conferences last season, with these new punishments set to be available to stewards if required in 2025.

While new Williams driver Sainz agrees with the “not very difficult” notion of minding one’s language while in a press conference, he believes it might be “too much” to expect drivers to not swear in the heat of battle over team radio, which is already censored upon broadcast on the world feed.

On top of that, he added it would deprive fans of a key element of the sport, showing fans “the real emotion” of a driver while in combat.

“My thoughts are that F1 drivers should be controlled enough doing press conferences and media appearances to not swear,” Sainz told media including PlanetF1.com when asked about the FIA’s plans regarding misconduct.

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“I am in favour, kind of as a group, to make an effort, when all the kids are watching us in press conferences or in front of the media, to at least have good behaviour and decent vocabulary. I think that’s not very difficult.

“Do we need fines or do we need to be controlled for that? I don’t know, but I’m in favour of always being well-spoken and well-mannered in front of microphones and in front of media.

“At the same time, do I think this is too much for radio communication and the adrenaline and the pressure that we have inside the car? Yes, I think it’s too much, [with what] the FIA is trying to achieve with bans and everything, because for me, that’s a fundamental part of the sport, where you guys get to see the real emotion and real pressure and the real excitement on the voice. And even sometimes, unfortunately, the vocabulary of a racing driver.

“And as long as it’s not offensive words towards anyone, and it’s just a swearing word where you just can see I’m being emotional, I don’t think that should be too controlled, because then you guys are going to miss out on a lot of stuff that we that we go through inside the car.

“Trust me, you don’t want to put a microphone inside a football pitch and see what the guy is saying inside a football pitch, which is an equivalent situation.”

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