Formula 1 drivers ask FIA to treat them like "adults" amid president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's swearing crusade

President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has been on an anti-swearing crusade this season, dishing out fines and community service to the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for bad language in press conferences and on the radio.

Now, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GDPA) has written an open letter to the FIA, calling on Bin Sulayem to “consider his own tone and language” and treat the drivers like adults. It comes after the FIA president said the drivers sound like “rappers” when they swear over team radio.

The letter said: “There is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing, such as you might use to describe bad weather, or indeed an inanimate object such as an F1 car, or a driving situation.

“We urge the FIA president to consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Our members are professional drivers, racing in Formula 1, the pinnacle of international motorsport. They are the gladiators and every racing weekend they put on a great show for the fans.

“Further, our members are adults. They do not need to be given instructions by the media about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewellery or underpants.”

All 20 drivers currently on the F1 grid are members of the GDPA, with Mercedes driver George Russell holding the position of director. Frenchman Roman Grosjean was director until he retired after the 2020 season. He is joined in the directors club by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Former McLaren and Benetton driver Alex Wurz is the chairman, and has been in this role for many years.

Hamilton had a long-running duel with Ben Sulayem over the wearing of jewellery in his Mercedes cockpit. The seven-time world champion was forced to remove his nose stud ahead of the 2022 British Grand Prix before he was afforded an FIA medical exemption to wear the piercings following “concerns about disfigurement” the following season.

The GDPA letter also addresses concerns over where the money from fines is distributed, asking the sport’s governing body for transparency.

“The GPDA has, on countless occasions, expressed its view that driver monetary fines are not appropriate for our sport,” the letter continued. “For the past three years, we have called upon the FIA president to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA’s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent.

“We have also relayed our concerns about the negative image financial fines bring to the sport. We once again request the FIA president provides financial transparency and direct, open dialogue with us.”