Williams boss James Vowles said he still trusts the FIA despite motorsport’s governing body coming under fire in recent years.

The FIA, led by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, have not been making many friends of late as the president went to war with drivers over swearing.

James Vowles lends support to under-fire FIA

This past weekend, WRC driver Adrien Fourmaux became the first driver to be fined under the FIA’s new rules after he said “We f**ked up yesterday” during a press conference.

That word landed him a €10,000 fine and drivers could even face a race ban should they prove to repeat offenders.

This is the latest incident that has seemingly put the FIA at odds with F1 but when asked if he still had faith in the French body, Williams team principal Vowles said he did.

“I still trust the FIA,” Vowles told media including PlanetF1.com. “What I look at more is, do we have a set of regulations that are being policed to the right standards?

“Do we have a 2026 set of regulations that are good for what we’re producing? And the answer to all of that is, fundamentally yes.

“We’re picking up on some pinch points which are around whether drivers should or shouldn’t be talking that way. Now my perspective is fairly clear on that one, when you are in the car under pressure, I think it’s normal to expect any human to respond that way, because you are putting your life on the line at the extreme.

“Outside of that, I do also think that we have a responsibility towards the world, and hopefully I don’t get caught out by my own words here, but I think you’re looking at a very small element.

“I look at the FIA as a whole, which is, do we have a set of regulations that I believe and trust? Do I trust they’re being policed? And the answer to both of those is yes, I do.

“And then finally, do I look at ‘26 and go, do we have a good set of regulations? Which I didn’t think we had for many, many months, but we do again as a result of it.”

More on the swearing ban from the FIA

Revealed: Where Carlos Sainz sees FIA swearing intervention as ‘too much’

FIA president not ruling out team radio ‘shutdown’ in swearing response

The driving force behind this ban is Ben Sulayem who drew criticism after suggesting F1 drivers are not rappers.

“We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” the 63-year-old Emirati said. “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us].”

That comparison drew criticism from Lewis Hamilton who said there was a racial element to the president’s words.

“I don’t like how he’s expressed it,” Hamilton said.

“Saying ‘rappers’ is very stereotypical and if you think about it, most rappers are black. So really pointed it towards we’re not like them.

“So I think that was the wrong choice of words. There’s a racial element there.”

Read next: MCL39 v FW47: The big differences that separate McLaren and Williams