The alarm that still sounds from the FIA's driver expression clampdown

The new Formula 1 season is finally right around the corner. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen versus Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a Bahrain Grand Prix battle sequel, hopefully with a Mercedes threat thrown in too – that would be an ideal start.

But there are still three days of pre-season testing to go before the racing can begin. And, ahead of that running also in Bahrain this week, the fallout from a rather needless distraction is being discussed: the FIA's codified clampdown on driver expressions during the off-season is about to conclude.

The quiet update to the governing body’s International Sporting Code came just before Christmas – apparently prohibiting drivers from making political, religious or personal statements at races without prior permission under a new Article 12.2.1.n.

As expected when they emerged in public properly for the first time since the 2022 season finale, the F1 drivers were questioned on the change through the various car launch events just gone. Although not all were asked, the message coming from most was the same: they were united against any clampdown on their freedom of expression.

Lewis Hamilton, the most high-profile and outspoken of his peers, said “nothing will stop me in speaking on the things that I feel that I'm passionate about and issues that there are”. Max Verstappen, among those who refused to take a knee alongside Hamilton during the Mercedes driver's protest against global racial inequality in 2020 and 2021, said that “you are making sure people are not allowed to speak and I think we should be allowed”.

But it was what Verstappen said first that is more interesting now the FIA has issued a clarification of what is indeed allowed in a document distributed to the teams and published on its website. The Dutchman said the overall move was “probably a bit unnecessary”. Really, that’s an understatement.

Verstappen believes the FIA's move is unneccessary, a view shared by many of his peers

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

The now-issued clarification is a complex and confusing explanation of something that already worked – the “principle of neutrality as one of [the FIA’s] guiding values”, per the FIA’s own document. But it at least eases a considerable number of fears the December 2022 ISC update had ignited – that the drivers might be in breach of the rules if they uttered anything not deemed compliant at any stage, even on social media, if not approved in advance.

Now, the clarification explains that such expressions that would need approval are only really covered at certain times generally involving competition or race promotion – the drivers’ parade, national anthem ceremony, cooldown room activities, the podium and pre- and post-season pictures. Plus, drivers can speak freely in press conferences and interviews, but only when asked by an accredited journalist. Yet, confusion and grey-area concerns remain.

Let’s start with what the drivers can say to the media. The F1 press pack – stuffed full of members looking for an excuse to show off – is delighted to be included in a rules requirement. But drivers rarely express non-racing issues unprompted, they barely like speaking to us at all. Which raises questions about the need to codify the situation anyway given how things previously ran.

Speaking to sources at the FIA, it’s possible to discern a note of frustration over this whole saga. That it’s the F1 organisation that signs the deals and takes the racing to these venues – many of which are sportwashing their images

With Sebastian Vettel gone, questions on non-racing topics will no doubt fall even more on Hamilton, but it’s good to see Verstappen speaking up on this issue – the Dutchman aware of just how much more clout his words have as a double world champion.

PLUS: The factors behind Vettel’s priority shift in his final F1 chapter

Secondly, the FIA’s rules already restricted what can be expressed – even as an item of clothing – during “activities on the track area or equivalent”, per its clarification document. In recent years, both Hamilton and Vettel were investigated for wearing T-shirts at such times – in the former’s case asking for justice regarding the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020, while the latter expressed solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary in 2021. The need to further outline this is… unsettling.

And then there’s the question of helmet liveries, which are not mentioned specifically in the recent clarification but are the most visible element of any racing driver. Famously, Hamilton wore a rainbow-flag inspired helmet livery in the 2021 Qatar, Saudi Arabian and Abu Dhabi races – all countries that have anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

Qatar, back on the F1 calendar this year, is of course even bigger in the public consciousness since the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where team captains from some European nations were banned from wearing ‘OneLove’ armbands on the eve of the tournament under threat of sporting punishment. That those countries then complied is one thing, but the gesture of mouth covering by the German squad ahead of their first game was a wonderful way to hit back.

Hamilton carried pride flag on his helmet livery in a stretch of 2021 races held in nations with anti-LGBTQ+ rules

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Unfortunately, such a move by a racing driver in 2023 would likely run afoul of Article 12.2.1.n. Given the timing of the FIA’s clarification, it’s unclear if it was too late for a driver to ask permission to do anything anyway for 2023’s opening race given a four-week notice period is required.

On a rainbow flag helmet livery, the understanding is that such a move would likely need a permission request. This is an appalling thought. Expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community in such a way isn’t covered by the Article 12.2.1.n issue of religion, nor it’s disturbingly vague concept of a ‘personal’ statement. And it’s just never a political issue. The subject has simply been co-opted by individuals, groups and governments that seek to suppress people just trying to live their lives.

And this is the real issue. That F1 visits many countries around the world with at best questionable records on human rights and freedom of expression, and awful ones at worst. And in our ever more progressive world, it’s right that every time F1 races in such places their practices are discussed.

Speaking to sources at the FIA, it’s possible to discern a note of frustration over this whole saga. That it’s the F1 organisation that signs the deals and takes the racing to these venues – many of which are sportwashing their images.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has said “F1 will never put a gag on anyone”. This is laudable, but the decision to go racing in such places that pay a premium to sportwash in the pursuit of profits then goes in a circle back to the need for progress to be seen on improving human rights. And then the FIA comes back in with the rules.

It’s now helmed by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who is already thought by many – in the UK even by a member of the House of Lords – as Paul Scriven puts it, to be “[shielding] F1 host countries from scrutiny over injustice” via the Article 12.2.1.n changes.

The FIA says the whole change has come so it can be closer aligned to the International Olympic Committee and has been done to “cement the FIA’s longstanding commitment to protecting motor sport’s neutrality”. But this is only half an explanation. And for Ben Sulayem’s own standing given Scriven’s words, written in a letter to the FIA president regarding the sportwashing issue in the Middle East, a full explanation would surely be a positive step.

The root cause of this whole story is still unclear. And, when trust in institutions and authorities is so low – particularly in the FIA’s case given Abu Dhabi 2021 and that the driver most harmed by that saga, Hamilton, is now again thought by many to be being targeted for his outspoken views – it raises the question of why the changes weren’t fully explained at the start? Particularly with the timing of it coming so close to the World Cup.

Ultimately, F1 is booming right through the years that some drivers have been their most vocal on serious issues in global society. People want to see them be leaders, and, yes, some don’t agree. But they should just be allowed to get on without fear of any punishment for doing so.

Should the bosses of F1 and the FIA allow drivers greater freedom to voice their views?

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images