The Director of Formula 1 has reduced sanctions for the drivers of jurant or criticism of civil servants, after a general outcry.
A revised version of the FIA penalty directives,, external Exit to delegates on Wednesday removed the threat of a racing ban and considerably reduced the level of fine that can be applied.
Previously, F1 drivers could be sentenced to a fine of € 40,000 (£ 33,700) for a first offense, and double it more for a second offense.
Now, the initial level of the fine has been reduced to € 5,000 (£ 4,200) and the potential of a raised ban, although “more serious sanctions” can always be imposed for “very serious offenses”.
Previously, there were multipliers for the drivers of the higher level championships – the F1 pilots fines increased four times compared to the basic level – but these have also been deleted.
The new document also differentiates the offenses committed in “controlled” and “uncontrolled” environments.
This effectively differentiates things that drivers say and do in competition and for forums such as press conferences, where adrenaline and risk do not influence factors.
There remains the case that drivers can be punished for bad language, the abuse of civil servants, the criticism of the FIA or “the” general manufacture and display of political, religious and personal declarations or comments in violation of the general neutrality of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its laws “.
For this last offense, as well as for any “public incitement to violence or hatred”, the fine is higher, at € 20,000 (£ 16,800).
The FIA has described development as “major improvements” in Appendix B of the sports code.
This decision follows generalized criticisms of the stricter approach, which was introduced in January, by drivers in F1 and beyond.
The decision to introduce the potential of fines and heavy prohibitions was taken following last year’s events, when the world champion of the F1 Max Verstappen was forced to make the F1 equivalent of the community service after having sworn during a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The drivers followed this with an open letter to the FIA asking him to treat them as “adults”.
And that comes two weeks after Mercedes’s driver George Russell, director of the Drivers ‘Grand Prix’ Association, called for the “action” of the FIA on the issue rather than words, after President Mohammed Ben Sulayem was teasing this decision on his Instagram account.