Toto Wolff dubbed Formula 1 a “gentleman sport”, in the same vein as rugby, and said the FIA should create a “difference” around drivers swearing when in and out of the car.

The topic of swearing has been much-discussed ahead of the season, with the governing body introducing a table of fines for driver misconduct, which includes “words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA” in official settings.

Toto Wolff: ‘Big difference’ between swearing in and out of the cockpit

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

World Rally Championship drivers have already spoken out against the introduction of FIA fines after Adrien Formaux was fined €10,000 for swearing in a press conference earlier this year, and any fines for similar offences in Formula 1 are likely to carry even harsher financial penalties, if implemented.

Mercedes team principal Wolff explained that, while he does not want to “mute” drivers, he wants to draw a distinction between what is said inside and outside of the cockpit.

With emotions taking over in the heat of the moment, he explained it is possible for drivers to swear, and would “let it go” – but in official settings such as press conferences, it may be a different story, given how those within the sport are looked up to around the world.

“None of us, and I was vocal about it, likes to have these words expressed, because we are role models,” Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com in Bahrain.

“And I think we are, you may laugh about it, but I think we’re a gentleman sport. We are high tech; we represent that. It’s different to more mainstream sports.

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“I see us a little bit [like], you know, rugby, for me, sophisticated, and nobody would ever say a word to an official. So I don’t think we should be swearing about officials, that’s for sure, and that’s why, also, the FIA needs to protect that. It’s clear.

“For me, it is about respect – about respect to your competitors, respect to the officials, not insulting anybody, whether it’s your own people or whether it’s an adverse competitor out there on track.

“And it makes a big difference whether you use the F-word in the context of your own driving or out of emotion, because I’m using that if I’m annoyed, but when it is directed in the car to another driver, to an official or to your team, I think this is what we need to prohibit, and we need to make a difference, in my opinion, between these two.

“We don’t want to mute the drivers and their emotions. If we’re in a press conference, if we are being interviewed, it’s a completely different set.

“But in the car, as long as it’s not an insult, and as long as it’s not disrespectful to somebody else, I would just let it go, but that’s my personal opinion.”

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