Top chef Gordon Ramsey blasts FIA for penalizing Max Verstappen for swearing - “I’d be royally f***ed"

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay delivered his verdict on F1 drivers being penalized for swearing. Max Verstappen was earlier told to do community service after swearing during one of the sessions.

In the past few months, swearing has seemingly become a major issue for the FIA, F1's governing body. After Verstappen, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was also fined €10,000 during the Mexican Grand Prix after he swore at one of the press conferences.

While the FIA has urged drivers to not use such words during conferences, drivers have repeatedly reflected their dislike for the rule. They feel that being athletes, they can sometimes be driven by adrenaline and use such language. This is also what celebrity chef Ramsay feels.

Sky Sports recently discussed Verstappen's penalty with him and asked him how he felt about the rule from the FIA. He mentioned that he would have been in a difficult situation if forced to follow the rule himself.

"I'd be f***ed. I'd be royally f***ed," Ramsay claimed.

He further explained that athletes, especially Formula 1 drivers, should not be forced to use certain language because of the intense forces they experience during a race.

"Here's the thing. These guys, athletes are driving in excess of 200 miles an hour. And within a split second, as we've seen before, their life could go in a heartbeat. And so it's an industry language. They're at the top of the game. They're pulling three, four Gs going into breaking, accelerating. The odd word comes out. Let it be. Don't interfere. Don't mummify it. Keep it real," he concluded.

After he was told to do the community service, Max Verstappen also did a silent protest against the FIA's ruling. He refused to speak during one of the press conferences and requested the media to ask him questions outside.

Recently, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) also wrote an open letter to the FIA President addressing issues like this, mentioning that the drivers need to be tackled like "adults."

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Max Verstappen on Red Bull's affected pace during Las Vegas GP qualifying: "That’s our own fault"

Red Bull hasn't looked very strong around the streets of Sin City so far this week. The team has had issues with its cars' rear wings and is losing quite a bit of speed on the straights.

Max Verstappen qualified P5 for the race with his teammate Sergio Perez down in P16. Reviewing the session, the Dutchman stated that their pace is quite slow and the trimmed rear wing does not give them an advantage on DRS straights either.

"I mean we’re just a bit too slow, we have been struggling to get the tyres to work over a lap, and we are too slow on the straights as well, especially in qualifying," Max Verstappen said. "You can see our rear wing, it’s trimmed down quite a lot, around the DRS flap, so when we open DRS we don’t get the gains like others do, so that makes it a bit more complicated around here."

"But that’s our own fault, we know that, that’s a compromise we have, but nevertheless I tried to do the best I could."

Max Verstappen currently leads the drivers' standings and is in competition with Lando Norris. However, he has a good chance of winning his fourth consecutive title this weekend. The only way that Norris can continue the title fight is by outscoring Verstappen by at least three points.