“Not an AI sport,” Guenther Steiner hits out at FIA’s crackdown on driver swearing

Guenther Steiner was amongst the many people criticizing FIA's recent ban on drivers using swear words on the track.

“Not an AI sport,” Guenther Steiner hits out at FIA’s crackdown on driver swearing

Guenther Steiner (via IMAGO)

The FIA recently set out to eliminate any form of abusive language from Formula 1. The governing body provided clear guidelines, banning drivers’ from swearing with repeated offenders risking a race ban. Ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner, who was often spotted hilariously abusing, commented against the decision.

Guenther Steiner was infamous for using colorful language while talking about the issues of the Haas F1 team. As such, the 59-year-old wasn’t impressed by FIA’s recent ban on swear words. Steiner argued that the issue could have been handled on a much smaller scale rather than enforcing a widespread ban.

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In my opinion, the problem could have been dealt with at a much lower level without making it such a big issue.

Guenther Steiner told RTL and sport.de.

Steiner further emphasized that a sport as intense as Formula 1 thrives on emotions. The Italian-American asserted that F1 wasn’t an ‘AI’ sport that consisted of robots driving the cars. Hence, it was natural and expected of the human drivers to sometimes cuss due to them having emotions.

A sport also lives from emotions. We are not an AI sport. It is not a robot that drives this car. They are people, and they have emotions.

Guenther Steiner added

Guenther Steiner believes FIA made ‘too big a deal’ from the swearing saga

Max Verstappen’s initial penalty of community service sparked a massive backlash from a majority of the people in the F1 community. Steiner pointed out that the cuss word in question came from someone whose first language is not English, suggesting it was unintentional. The 59-year-old reiterated that the FIA made too big a deal out of the whole situation.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via RacingNews365)

It was from someone whose first language is not English. It obviously slipped out of his mouth. A lot of money. In my opinion, we made too big a deal out of it.

Guenther Steiner noted

Due to the ongoing backlash, the FIA is likely to amend the rule banning swearing among drivers. However, drivers may struggle to adjust to the rule change and ensure they comply. Verstappen has already responded with sarcastic remarks, carefully watching his words to avoid penalties even before the season begins.