F1 Drivers Will Now Need Consent From FIA If They Wish To Make ‘Political’ Statements – WTF1
10 comments

F1 Drivers Will Now Need Consent From FIA If They Wish To Make ‘Political’ Statements

It wouldn’t be winter break without an FIA rule causing an upset in the F1 community, would it? Well, this time, it’s a change in the International Sporting Code that has got some fans rather disappointed in F1’s governing body.

Changes to the ISC now mean that drivers need written permission from the FIA if they wish to make a “political, religious and personal statement or comment”.

It’s not just F1 who will be following these rules either, as it will apply to all FIA championships – from rallying to karting and single-seaters.

This new rule comes under the article about the “breach of rules”. It relates to “the general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its Statutes”.

Several drivers on the grid have not been shy to raise awareness about global issues they care about, including world champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, though Seb is now retiring.

We guess this means we will see fewer of the special t-shirts or racing helmets on the grid, which have previously been worn to promote issues like climate change, support for the LGBTQIA+ communities and racial discrimination.

Do you agree with the change? Let us know in the comments below. 

10 thoughts on “F1 Drivers Will Now Need Consent From FIA If They Wish To Make ‘Political’ Statements

  • Thank you. I watch F1 to see teams and drivers compete, not to be subjected to their personal views on a given topic. Let’s stay focused and just go racing.

  • Ricardo de Oliveira Luise says:

    There is no FREE SPEECH in F1 or in the WORLD.

    And there are people that support that idea, until they cannot say what they want.

  • Let the fans judge. If they don’t like a statement they can switch off or stay away and if enough do that the statements might stop naturally. Don’t make another silly rule that insults the intelligence of fans by telling them what they want to hear. For what it’s worth I think political and religious etc. views have no place in motor racing but neither has a culture that there has to be a rule for everything.

  • Ah yes, the notably controversial political statements on ‘maybe we shouldn’t burn down the planet’ and ‘maybe we shouldn’t be killing people for no reason’ are now banned.

    Expect lots of arguing about what is/isn’t political. Proper response to this ought to be 2 fingers for the FIA from everyone involved.

  • The FIA is dreaming if it thinks it can curtail rights of expression enjoyed by drivers (and all other people) under national and international law. The FIA simply wants to keep dealing with despicable countries without anyone in the sport objecting.

Comments are closed.

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap