Partly agreeing with the new policy, Wolff does not want the FIA ​​to touch the radios

In the absence of any action on the track yet while waiting for the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia (March 14-16), the main topic that has been animating the paddock for the past few weeks has been the recent decisions of the FIA. The latter has in fact decided to increase its penalties for misconduct in anticipation of the 2025 campaign.

Moreover, under the tutelage of its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, it would also consider reviewing the the way radios are broadcastTwo options were raised by the highest official of the Federation: either delay them or cut them off altogether, as he recently suggested.

Obviously, these decisions are not going down well with the drivers who raised their voices for the first time a few months ago through the GPDA, while some have spoken out more recently. Carlos Sainz had not hesitated to express his disagreement with the FIA. What we say on the radio… I don't agree with what's happeninghe explained. You can't be too hard on this kind of thing because you can't understand the pressure, the adrenaline and what you feel in the car when you talk on the radio. »

In Bahrain this week, the subject was once again put on the table during pre-season testing. This time, it was the directors who were invited to discuss the new guidelines of the international motorsport watchdog. Inevitably, this partly divides them, like Toto wolff. The boss of Mercedes believes that the FIA ​​is right to want to avoid the utterance of insults by drivers, seen as examples for the younger generation, especially in public.

« We are a gentleman's sport, we are the cutting edge of technology, we represent that., explained the Austrian. For example, rugby is a sophisticated sport and no one would ever say a bad word to an official. So I don't think we should be saying bad words about officials, that's obvious.

That's why the FIA ​​must also protect that, that's clear. For me, it's about respecting your competitors, the officials, not insulting anyone, whether it's your own team or a competitor on the track. »

On the other hand, Toto Wolff wants to avoid the situation escalating in the future and ending in a war between the drivers and the FIA, while the latter is considering having almost total control of the word. We don't want to mute the drivers and their emotions, he adds. If we are in a press conference, if we are being interviewed, it is completely different. But in the car, as long as it is not an insult and it is not a lack of respect towards someone else, I would not take it. But that is my personal opinion.. » And it may not please everyone in the paddock, while he himself had been criticized for insults at a press conference. It was in Las Vegas in 2023 when he had minimized Carlos Sainz's incident with a manhole cover in free practice going so far as to pronounce the famous “F word” in English…

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