"You never cut off your nose to spite your face": F1 fans react to the FIA president claiming team radios could be banned

The rift between F1 and the FIA has grown over the past year with drivers being reprimanded constantly for their actions. Moreover, FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, revealed how he plans to ban the broadcast of team radios. This invited a hoard of negative reactions from fans feeling that this action would do more harm to Sulayem's regime in the grand scheme of things.

With Liberty Media's takeover of F1, restrictions on teams and drivers were lifted and their personas were amplified. However, over the last year, drivers have been penalized for swearing in press conferences, an action that sparked a huge debate afterward.

Fans and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) became vocal about their unhappiness with the new rules, but the FIA has disregarded their concerns. In a press conference in Spain, the 63-year-old revealed his intentions about clamping down on the broadcast of team radio to curb driver swearing, via SoyMotor:

"Do we go on and then shut down the radios of live communications? Maybe. Do we delay it? Maybe. There’s a lot of things we will work [on] with our promoters. We are still the owners of the championship."

Moreover, this controversial decision did not go well with fans, as they wrote:

"Did this man’s mum not drum it into him as a child that you never ‘cut off your nose to spite your face," one wrote.

"You might be the owner but we are the viewers," another fan wrote.

"Remove Ben Sulayem from the FIA please," an infuriated fan wrote.

"Thank god FIA host elections this year and maybe we get away from such ridiculous statements in the future," wrote another one.

"It’s bs. He needs to go or drivers strike. We love hearing the radio and could care less about swearing," a fan wrote.

With the FIA presidency's elections set to take place this year, Sulayem has tried to justify his potential ban on drivers swearing.

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem's reasons why the swearing ban for F1 drivers is necessary

Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 - Source: Getty

F1 has always been known for its adrenaline-surging action, which has often been the reason for drivers to swear over the radio. However, Sulayem wants F1 to be a family-friendly series and is not happy with the current way of censoring curse words on air and wants a full ban.

Moreover, Sulayem elaborated on his plan and said, via PlanetF1:

"Drivers are ambassadors of the sport. After all, we don't want parents of children to get the image that we are a 'dirty' sport that they don't want to belong to. At every track, you have to deal with things that are allowed or not allowed. Drivers in Formula 1 earn millions and are not children, but adults. In their job, they have a responsibility to the FIA and to the public. They should respect the rules in a sport that has given them so much."

The Australian Grand Prix will hold the season opener after an absence from the first race fixture since 2019.