The FIA is assessing whether Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc needs to be investigated and possibly punished for swearing through the Mexican Grand Prix press conference, Motorsport understands.
The incident comes after Red Bull's Max Verstappen was handed a community service penalty for swearing within the run-up to last month's Singapore Grand Prix, resulting in the Dutchman boycotting FIA press conferences.
The concentrate on driver swearing is a component of an FIA initiative across the championship to avoid its officials being subjected to insults – often from large, biased fan bases of famous drivers – but has been interpreted as limiting drivers' facial expressions following comments FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in an interview with Motorsport.
In Leclerc's case, he was asked: “What did you say to yourself when you drove the car away?” after ending third in a race in Mexico won by teammate Carlos Sainz – a reference to the moment he almost crashed his Ferrari on the Peraltada corner ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris.
Leclerc's response included the next sentence: “I had one oversteer, and when I recovered from it, I oversteered on the other side and I thought, 'f**k'.”
He then added: “Oh, I'm sorry! Oh no, oh no! I don't want to join Max!”
Following the press conference, the FIA media delegate spoke at length with Leclerc, of which it is known Leclerc apologized again and understood why the discussion was going down.
Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari in the beginning
Photo: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
As with Verstappen, his comments might be considered a violation of Article 12.2.1k of the FIA International Sporting Code.
The rule states that it’s an offense to utter “any words, acts or writings that have caused moral damage or loss to the FIA, its bodies, members or executive authorities, and more generally in the interests of motor sport and in the defense of the values of the FIA.”
Following the press conference, Motorsport understands that the FIA media delegate needed to report the incident to the governing body's sporting authorities and meeting stewards.
They are currently discussing whether to launch a proper investigation into Leclerc's comments – just as racing incidents are first recorded by race control officials before being passed on to stewards.
It is unclear at this stage when a call might be made, but through the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP, Mercedes and Ferrari team principals Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur were questioned for swearing through the event's team principals' press conference in Las Vegas last week.
The FIA may due to this fact wait until next weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix before announcing an investigation.
This might be the case if it ever gets that far because Motorsport understands that Leclerc's repeated apologies are already being taken into consideration on this matter.
