McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella has called for a meeting with the FIA after Oscar Piastri’s comments over team radio caused controversy at the British Grand Prix.
The Australian driver was slammed with a 10-second time penalty at Silverstone for braking erratically under safety car conditions; but when he radioed his race engineer on the cool down lap, frustration clearly simmered under the surface.
However, Piastri felt he was prevented from articulating his emotions due to the FIA’s regulations, that prohibit drivers from saying anything that could result in ‘moral’ harm to the FIA and its employees.
“If I say anything now, I’ll be banned for the rest of the year,” the Australian referenced.
In subsequent interviews, Piastri refused to elaborate on his view of the penalty where he said: “I don’t want to say too much, otherwise I’ll get into trouble.”
Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Piastri’s boss, Andrea Stella, has asked for dialogue with the FIA to allow drivers to be able to express themselves.
“In such a heated situation, we always advise our drivers to review the footage first and only then react,” he said.
“But if you’re no longer allowed to make honest statements because you could get into trouble, that’s a different issue. We need to re-examine that. We want to do that together with the FIA.
“We don’t want to start a conflict, and there’s no conflict of interest here. All parties have the same interest. We always cooperate with the FIA and the stewards.”
Oscar Piastri was penalised at Silverstone
Are FIA rules silencing F1 drivers?
In Montreal and Austria, Max Verstappen also refused to voice his opinion on controversial topics and hit out at the FIA’s penalty system.
“Everything can be interpreted as criticism and you can get punished for it. It’s clearly stated in the regulations. They can take it as ‘this is critical towards us,’ so then I’d rather say nothing anymore,” Verstappen said to the media at the Austrian GP.
Verstappen appears to be referring to Article 12.2.1.f of the International Sporting Code here, which reads: “Any act, statement, or written communication that causes moral harm to the FIA, its bodies, its members, or its employees, and generally anything that is contrary to the interests of motorsport and the values of the FIA.”
The rule was put in place to counter growing abuse towards members of the FIA and race stewards on social media, but F1 teams and drivers clearly believe there is a middle ground that needs to be found on this issue.
