Charles Leclerc has slammed the FIA by calling for more ‘common sense’ punishments and demanding ‘transparency’ in where driver fines go. However, the Ferrari star thinks he and his F1 colleagues have yet to receive concrete answers.
In recent months, drivers and the FIA have been at odds over profanity. The sport’s regulatory body punished Max Verstappen for a slip of the tongue during a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix in September.
Leclerc was then fined over £8,000 for swearing during media interviews in Mexico City a month later. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem maintains that drivers are role models to young viewers and should take more responsibility for their language.
But Leclerc and co want greater leeway over things said in the heat of the moment. “We are reasonable enough to understand when we break the rules,” the 27-year-old told La Repubblica.
“On the track, it is important to have a steward who judges situations impartially, but to be fined for words that don’t directly hurt anyone and can be said in the heat of the moment in the car is absurd.”
Leclerc went on to explain that drivers are given little to no information about where the fines they pay end up. Even though they have asked clarity from the FIA, he and his colleagues have yet to receive it.
He continued: “We ask for a bit of common sense and a bit more transparency about the destination of the money raised by the fines: so far we have not had any answers.”
Leclerc’s four-year association with Carlos Sainz is coming to an end, as he will leave Ferrari to join Williams at the end of this season, to be replaced by Lewis Hamilton. During their time with the Scuderia, Sainz and Leclerc developed a solid friendship and a productive working relationship, but the Monegasque is keen to put his skills to the test against a new competitor.
“For sure, it’s going to be very special,” he admitted on Pirelli’s Box Box Box podcast. “Lewis is a seven-time world champion, the most successful driver in Formula 1 ever. So it’s going to be a big challenge for me.
“On the one hand, I can learn from Lewis while driving the same car as him, but on the other hand, I can also prove what I can do in the same car as him. That’s a big motivation for me.”
