FIA issues first penalty under updated Sporting Code ahead of 2025 F1 season

Last month the FIA issued an update to its International Sporting Code regarding driver misconduct, outlining an escalating table of penalties that race stewards can utilize to penalize behavior. In an updated Appendix B drivers now face escalating fines, race bans, and even penalty points deductions for a variety of conduct, including “misconduct” and swearing. The potential penalties include an escalating scale based on the series, with the heaviest fines reserved for Formula 1 drivers.

We now have our first penalty under this updated Appendix B, and it serves as a warning to the motorsport world.

The World Rally Championship just concluded its second event of the 2025 season, Rally Sweden. Following the Power Stage Adrien Fourmaux, a driver for the No. 16 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, conducted a live interview with Rally.TV. During that interview, Fourmaux referenced a mistake he made during a previous stage. “I had a clean stage, the ruts are really tricky,” he said. “I think it will be difficult to do a good time. There is a lot of sweeping in the beginning. We f***ed up yesterday [referring to a stage 11 incident].”

Shortly after that interview, Fourmaux was summoned to meet with race stewards. As noted in the Stewards Decision report, Fourmaux “explained. that he was referring to the mistake(s) he had made on the previous day (Saturday, February 15th, 2025) and that he used the words in a colloquial and descriptive way, in the sense that he had made a mistake. He apologized as he did not mean to offend or insult anyone by using those words.”

As noted in the decision the Stewards “reminded the Driver and the Team Representative of the stance of the FIA regarding not only inappropriate language but also verbal/physical abuse, and making/displaying political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its Statutes.”

Under the updated Appendix B, Stewards fined Fourmaux €10,000, with an additional €20,000 fine suspended for one year, provided that Fourmaux “commits no further breach” of the updated Sporting Code regulations regarding behavior.

In addition, the Stewards outlined in depth the reasoning behind the FIA’s recent change to the Sporting Code.

The Stewards and the FIA acknowledge that the words in question have unfortunately become common colloquialisms. However, it is essential to emphasize that this does not diminish the fact that such language is widely regarded as profanity and is inappropriate in public discourse, including live television broadcasts. Public platforms are not solely intended for audiences familiar with these colloquialisms but also reach

diverse cultures and individuals, who may find such words offensive. Motorsport is a global sport, engaging people of various age groups and cultural backgrounds, some of whom may misinterpret or take offense to these expressions. Given this, the FIA remains committed to ensuring that inappropriate language is not used in public forums, including visual and audible media, press conferences, and social media. Furthermore, as public figures and role models for future generations of athletes and fans, sportspersons are expected to uphold a standard of professionalism and respect in their communication.

The Stewards then outlined how Fourmaux’s language ran afoul of the updated Appendix B.

Within this context, the 2025 FIA International Sporting Code (FIA ISC) defines the breach in this case as “… the general use of language (written or verbal), gesture and/or sign that is offensive, insulting, coarse, rude or abusive and might reasonably be expected or be perceived to be coarse or rude or to cause offense, humiliation or to be inappropriate …” The FIA has introduced, in its International Sporting Code, Appendix B (published on January 22nd, 2025), which serves as Steward penalty guidelines to [penalize] violations of certain articles of its International Sporting Code, including the breach stated above.

The Stewards did find some mitigating factors: First, this was the first instance of Fourmaux violating the updated Sporting Code. Second, English is not his native language, and the statement in question was not meant to be offensive. Third, the statement from Fourmaux was self-referential, aimed at his own performance and not another driver or race official. Fourth, he apologized immediately, and finally, Fourmaux “assured” the officials that he would recognize greater caution in the future.

Due to those mitigating factors, the additional fine was suspended.

With the F1 season about to begin, starting with Tuesday’s F1 75 Live launch event, the updated Appendix B looms as a potential factor in the year ahead.

Fines for misconduct were a massive talking point during the 2024 F1 season. Yuki Tsunoda was fined €40,000 — half of which was suspended — for using an ableist slur while speaking on his team radio. Charles Leclerc was fined €10,000, with half of it suspended, for swearing during an FIA Press Conference during the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Then there was the saga involving Max Verstappen, who was ordered to perform public service for the FIA in Rwanda after swearing during the pre-race press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix. Verstappen was subsequently curt during several following FIA press conferences, at one point holding an impromptu presser with assembled media away from the official FIA press conference.

As a means of standardizing the penalties race officials can hand out, the FIA issued the updated Appendix B ahead of the 2025 motorsport season.

However, those penalties range from fines for a first offense, to potential suspensions and deductions of championship points for a third offense. It is also worth noting that the monetary fines escalate depending on the level of competition, with F1 drivers facing the steepest monetary penalties. As outlined in the updated Appendix B F1 drivers face a “multiple of 4” for each base fine, therefore a first offense under this section would carry a €40,000 fine, and a third offense a €120,000 fine.

As F1 embarks on what may be a transformative season, fans — and perhaps the drivers themselves — wonder how the FIA will implement the updated Appendix B.

We now have our first example.