Alex Albon Breaks Silence On FIA Swearing Penalties At Williams 2025 Launch

At Williams's 2025 season launch, Alex Albon addressed questions about the FIA’s strict swearing penalties.

Nov 21, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Williams Racing driver Alex Albon (23) arrives with girlfriend Lily Muni before practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

At Williams's launch event at the Silverstone circuit, Formula 1 driver Alex Albon addressed questions about the FIA's new rules against swearing.

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The new penalty system is structured to escalate upon repeated offenses. For a first offense, the FIA imposes a fine of €40,000. The second offense sees the fine double, and by the third offense, the penalties become a €120,000 fine, a potential one-month suspension, and championship point deductions. These changes stem from FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem's aim to maintain higher standards of behavior in the sport.  

When asked about these sanctions, Albon made it clear that while discussions are ongoing amongst the drivers, many remain concerned about the broader impacts. He explained to the media, as quoted by ESPN:

"There's definitely been discussions about it. We're still ongoing about how we want to set out what we say around it.

"It is a delicate matter and of course do we think it's right? Of course not.

"I don't think we should be so monetised in every single aspect of what we do. It's a pure adrenaline sport as well. I don't think us walking around with the mics [microphones] all the time is ... Whatever."

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This comes after Mohammed Ben Sulayem spoke out about F1 drivers swearing during broadcasts last year. He explained at the time:

“We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music.

“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].

“I know, I was a driver. In the heat of the moment, when you think you are upset because another driver came to you and pushed you…

"When I used to drive in the dust [and something like that happened], I would get upset. But also, we have to be careful with our conduct. We need to be responsible people.

“And now with the technology, everything is going live and everything is going to be recorded. At the end of the day, we have to study that to see: do we minimise what is being said publicly?

“Because imagine you are sitting with your children and watching the race and then someone is saying all of this dirty language.

“I mean, what would your children or grandchildren say? What would you teach them if that is your sport?”

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