Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: FIA, Max Verstappen, Formula 1, Sky Sports
Ben McCrum
The FIA President has suggested making a change to Formula One broadcasts that could change how we watch the sport forever.
Last year, the International Sporting Code for Formula One underwent colossal change under the guidance of Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, the governing body for F1.
The new rules established significant punishments for drivers who were deemed to have carried out 'misconduct' due to their actions or words during a race weekend.
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And now Sulayem has suggested that another change to the rules could be on the way, and it would have a massive impact on how fans watch F1.
In a now infamous moment from last season, four-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen became the first person to be handed a misconduct punishment for swearing in a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver received a one-day community service order and was met with fierce criticism from Verstappen and several other drivers across the grid.
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Of course, press conferences aren't the only time that a driver is sometimes heard swearing, as sometimes the tensions of a dramatic race lead to the use bad language mid-race over the radio, and Sulayem has suggested he wants to address this in 2025.
Speaking at an FIA officials summit at the Circuito del Jarama, the FIA President suggested that he may remove live radio broadcasts from the feed broadcast to fans at home, removing the impact of a driver's potential misconduct mid race.
Addressing the issue, he said: "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 with our promoters. We are still the owners of the championship."
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Reacting to the news, one frustrated fan wrote: "Its interesting to be fighting a battle that no one asked for and irks the drivers and the viewers simultaneously, just for your own sense of morality."
Another agreed, pointing out: "Team radios are one of the most entertaining things in F1."
While one fan suggested: "Just don’t play the team radio if the drivers are swearing, simple."
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As it stands, radio communications within a Grand Prix are typically broadcast with delays, to allow for any swear words to be censored with a bleep.
While this is the case for the broadcast in the UK via Sky Sports, some premium subscription packages broadcast exchanges between drivers and their team in real time, leading to the potentially offensive words being heard by viewers.