Toto Wolff has had his differences with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem but he backs him on the swearing matter, as Carlos Sainz advices on social media scene.
Towards the end of last F1 season, there was a debate about drivers swearing. The FIA President Sulayem raised his voice against drivers doing so and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were penalised, which irked not just them but the whole clan.
GPDA director and Mercedes driver George Russell raised his voice against the ruling, even though he did have concerns about youngsters listening to the swear words. The drivers argued that they do so in the heat of the moment, where they are not firing it towards someone to degrade them.
Sulayem referred the situation to rappers, which Lewis Hamilton didn’t fancy, considering that there is a larger list of black rappers. After what transpired between Russell and Verstappen in Qatar, Mercedes boss Wolff had a thought about how the swearing is reaching to young children.
He has his differing thoughts to Sulayem, but on the topic of swearing, Wolff had a similar stance. “I have a thing about the swearing. Like George said, he has an eight-year-old nephew that go-karts and watches all of that,” he said to media. I have a similar seven-year-old that go-karts, that watches everything.
“It’s the first time a few months ago that he said, ‘what the f**k’. And I said, ‘where did you hear that from’? ‘From the drivers’, he answered. So, you know, I have my conflicts with Mohammed. But in that instance, the drivers, all drivers are role models and are on air. And they are entitled, they are empowered. I disagree with many of the other things that he came up with.
But on that one, I think, if you translate the word f**k in your own language, in my language, it’s pretty rude. I would never say that on the radio. And George and I, and Lewis, we had these conversations. They know I don’t like it, so I’m perfectly fine, which we were able to really limit that thing. There’s a handful of drivers, some native, some not, that come out with the things.
“And for me, I’d be happy to sanction that even more,” summed up Wolff. The broader topic of swearing is around the increased usage of social media and availability of everything online. In the recent age, the teams and drivers have to be mindful of what they say or how they behave, considering the cameras are always around them.
The social media age has played a big role in things getting out of hand sometimes too. Sainz found that out in 2024 when stories of him were shared in abundance while he trying to secure a F1 drive for himself for 2025 and beyond. There were plenty of stories, often portraying things that he hasn’t said or taken out of context, which he didn’t like.
He hoped that whether social media and or media at large restrain themselves in future. “Social media is a very toxic place,” said Sainz. “It’s always been a toxic place. From here, I ask the media – not the social media – to have a responsibility on the way you inform and write articles, and you inform those less-educated or less-understanding fans that are maybe a bit more biased to one side or the other, to make sure we can also help them understand how this sport works because it is a place that is becoming ever more toxic.
“I also believe there is a certain place on the media side… I’m not talking about any of you here, but the way you [some areas of the media] can inform can also create clickbait, which then can bring misunderstandings and miscommunication, and can make people even more biased or even more toxic.
“One hundred per cent it’s not a healthy place in the world right now, and I’m not a big fan of it, but let’s try, between all of us, to control or all help these people that are at home and are feeling frustrated about one or the other not to take too many lighthearted conclusions about one another,” summed up Sainz.
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