Max Verstappen the first victim of the FIA’s clamp down on swearing

Max Verstappen will meet with the stewards at 7PM local time.

Max Verstappen has become the first driver to be summoned to the stewards for swearing as the FIA look to clamp down on bad language.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said in the build-up to Singapore that the sporting body would look to limit the amount of swear words broadcast and they have gone after Verstappen.

Max Verstappen summoned to stewards for FIA swearing rule break

Verstappen, one of the drivers with a more colourful language than most, has become the first to be picked up on the rule change after he said “the car was f**ked” in Thursday’s press conference.

He was reminded to watch his language by host Tom Clarkson before later remarking that the drivers are not children.

But the FIA have not accepted that and summoned him on the vague ground of exceeding the rule of “any misconduct.”

Verstappen and a team representative will meet the stewards at 7PM track time to discuss the incident. The likely outcome should he be found guilty is a warning, reprimand or possible fine.

In the build-up, Ben Sulayem said F1 drivers should not be like “rappers.”, which Lewis Hamilton described as a statement with a racial element.”

“I mean, we have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” Ben Sulayem told Autosport.

“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].”

12.2.1.k of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, which Verstappen is alleged to have broken, previously stated it was “any Misconduct. towards, but not limited to: licence-holders, officials, officers or member of the staff of the FIA, members of the staff of the Organiser or promoter, members of the staff of the Competitors, suppliers of products or services to (or contractors or subcontractors to) any of the parties listed above; doping control officials or any other person involved in” however it now simply read “Any Misconduct.”

More to come