Haas rookie Oliver Bearman has quipped that he “can’t afford” to swear during the F1 2025 season as the FIA threaten to punish drivers with heavy fines.

The FIA published revised stewards’ guidelines for driver misconduct last month with competitors at risk of points deductions and race bans under the new system.

Key F1 figures react to FIA swearing ban threat

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

Drivers can be hit with a €10,000 fine for a first offence, escalating to a fine of €30,000 plus a one-month suspension and a deduction of World Championship points for a third offence.

It follows a high-profile stand off between Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and the FIA at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, where the reigning World Champion was punished for swearing in a pre-race press conference.

Verstappen, who staged a protest in official FIA press conferences for the remainder of the Singapore GP weekend, was forced to carry out some community service work in Rwanda ahead of the governing body’s annual prize-giving ceremony in December.

Go deeper: The FIA’s swearing clampdown

👉 Explained: The real reasons behind the FIA’s new swearing guidelines

👉 FIA explained: What does it stand for and how does it govern F1?

Adrian Fourmaux, the Hyundai WRC star, became the first driver to be punished under the revised guidelines at last weekend’s Rally Sweden, where he used foul language in a stage-end interview.

Fourmaux, of France, was given a €10,000 fine, with a further €20,000 suspended for 12 months, for admitting he had “f***ed up” by forgetting to fasten his helmet ahead of a stage, forcing him to stop and lose valuable time as he resolved the issue with his headgear.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at F1’s season-launch event on London on Tuesday, Bearman, who is preparing for his debut season with Ferrari customer team Haas admitted that he must watch his language carefully as he cannot yet afford to pay the FIA’s fines.

And he voiced his belief that the drivers’ union, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, will work with Formula 1 and the FIA to find a workable solution.

He said: “I certainly can’t afford to swear, so that’s a good start!

“But, of course, it is a big topic of the off-season, this new rule that’s come into play and I’m sure we’re going to find a way to make all parties happy and figure something out.

“It’s nice to have a bit of say in what’s going on with the GPDA.

“There’s a lot of discussions going on about various topics and it’s nice to feel like we have a bit of a say in what’s going on. Compared to what I’m used to in F2 that’s a very big change.

“We’re working hard to figure a few things out and we’re getting there.”

Mercedes driver George Russell has served as a director of the GPDA since 2021 and leapt to the defence of drivers for whom English is a second language, quipping that new team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli has taught him swear words in Italian.

Russell said: “[Speaking] as an individual, like I said last year it’s obviously going quite far with everything. Not really much more to say on that.

“I think as drivers we need to continue to show personality. I do think there’s merit in saying there is no need to swear in an environment like this.

“But ultimately, especially for the guys [for whom] English isn’t their first language, the first thing you get taught are the swear words. And the first thing [Antonelli taught me] in Italian were swear words!

“I don’t really know, to be honest. I don’t have much more to say on it than that.”

Antonelli laughed at Russell’s suggestion that he has been teaching his new team-mate some Italian swear words, adding: “Yeah, definitely!”

From a team’s perspective, meanwhile, Williams boss James Vowles welcomed the FIA’s clampdown as “somewhat sensible” and argued that drivers should be held to a higher standard outside of the cockpit.

He said: “Myviewisthis: Whenyouinthecarandyou’reaskingsomeofthemostincredibletheseathletesintheworldtoputtheirlifeontheline,Ithinkbeingawarethattheymayuselanguagethat’ssensitiveisexpected.Ithinkanyoneofuswouldaswell.

“Therewasadifferentmattertosettinghowwewantustobeonaworldstageinacalmenvironment, soIthinktheprecedentthatthey’regoingforisasomewhatsensibledirection.”

Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer stressed that F1 is not looking to take the emotion out of the sport by clamping down on swearing.

He explained: “It was a discussion this morning, actually, in the F1 Commission [meeting]. And interestingly, I think we all agree we want to keep those emotions alive.

“We do have the beeping already from F1 with a delayed broadcast, which is probably taking care of a lot of the emotions.

“But at the same time, under the new regulations you had a case in Formula E  just recently. The stewards found that was an internal discussion between the driver and his team.

“We had the other end of the possibilities in the WRC, in world rallying so.

“What it means is that we, as F1, as teams, as the FIA, we have to get together and I’m sure with the drivers we want to have a clear briefing of what should be said and should not be said.

“But overall, I think it’s going in in the right direction, preserving the emotions [but] not making it too profane at the same time and making sure that we develop as a sport.”

Laurent Mekies, the Racing Bulls team principal, played down fears that a driver ban could cost the team in the Constructor’s Championship.

He added: “Honestly, we are not worried about it. There have been a lot of discussions. Fine. There has been maybe a bit too much stress [over] this specific topic.

“But at the end of the day the sport, F1, FIA, the teams are trying to find the right balance between getting access to the emotion of the drivers and also keep playing our role-model part.

“And we have been a little bit adjusted on what is the right balance of that, but I have every confidence that we will ultimately arrive on a good balance point.

“There have been some ups and downs, but I think that we will find a reasonable solutions for starting season.”

Read next: Daytona 500 under fire after airborne driver begs not to ‘be the example’