{"id":30341,"date":"2025-02-14T13:29:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T18:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=30341"},"modified":"2025-02-14T13:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T18:41:08","slug":"alex-albon-of-course-drivers-disagree-with-latest-fia-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/14\/alex-albon-of-course-drivers-disagree-with-latest-fia-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Albon: &#8220;Of course&#8221; drivers disagree with latest FIA changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2025 season approaching, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/11\/21\/alex-albon-looking-forward-to-challenge-of-facing-carlos-sainz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Alex Albon<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/11\/sainz-committed-to-williams-despite-tough-2025-forecast\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"> Carlos Sainz<\/a> have provided the first indications into how drivers feel about the changes being imposed by the FIA.<\/p>\n<p>A few weeks ago, the FIA made changes to the sporting code &#8211; creating strong sanctions (including points deductions) for criticising the sport&#8217;s Governing body.<\/p>\n<p>There have also been suggestions the FIA will more strictly monitor driver messages on team radio.<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, the first driver interviews of 2025 confirm these new initiatives are widely unpopular.<\/p>\n<h2>Albon, Sainz speak out against driver crackdown<\/h2>\n<p>As mentioned previously on LWOS, it was inevitable that the topic of a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/08\/fia-considering-shut-down-of-team-radio-in-f1-broadcasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">potential team radio ban<\/a> (in addition to drivers facing points deductions for causing &#8216;moral injury&#8217; to the FIA) would rise to the surface.<\/p>\n<p>Never before in the sport&#8217;s history have such drastic measures been implemented or even considered to address driver conduct.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, this is because F1 drivers avoid massive controversies &#8211; at least beyond the race track.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/09\/fia-president-ben-sulayem-insists-12th-f1-team-is-possible\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the FIA&#8217;s decision<\/a> to sanction drivers who make public criticisms is being met with backlash.<\/p>\n<p>In the eyes of many fans, these new measures are unnecessary &#8211; a view that Alex Albon and other drivers share:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;There have definitely been discussions about it,&#8221;<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/formula1\/articles\/c5y6neq91xjo\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told the media at Williams&#8217; FW47 launch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s still ongoing about how we want to set out what we say around it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It is a delicate matter and, of course &#8211; do we think it&#8217;s right? Of course not.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Albon spoke specifically about the changes that have already been legislated &#8211; fines and points removals to punish drivers that voice their disapproval.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/10\/f1-ben-sulayem-calls-for-driver-discipline-on-team-radio\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Ben Sulayem calls for driver &#8220;discipline&#8221; on team radio<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This disapproval is hardly a surprise, especially given that the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association) stood by Max Verstappen in the wake of his skirmish with the FIA last year.<\/p>\n<p>With pre-season testing only a few weeks away, others are likely to speak out on this issue.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"YFAT1eXxSUB8-N0Avc10hA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2188843600\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'YFAT1eXxSUB8-N0Avc10hA',sig:'0ZNyFiWs-3B37HOoZoxRV9jlBTTkAPgQlkNyjhyL1s8=',w:'594px',h:'427px',items:'2188843600',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Sainz: These moments show the &#8216;real driver&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>Another talking point that has emerged in recent days is the issue of drivers swearing over team radio.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, FOM (Formula One Management) already censors any words that are inappropriate in the official F1 broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>This allows for driver communications to be shared authentically, whilst still maintaining an element of control.<\/p>\n<p>Team radio messages are an immensely popular aspect of the F1 experience, offering fans a glimpse into crucial strategy decisions and driver observations.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, FIA President Ben Sulayem has floated the idea of shutting down radio broadcasts.<\/p>\n<p>He argues that drivers should be ambassadors, calling for them to show greater &#8220;discipline&#8221; in their actions.<\/p>\n<p>Also speaking at the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/14\/williams-unveil-fw47-challenger-for-2025-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">FW47 launch<\/a>, Carlos Sainz expressed his disagreement with these suggestions:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;What we say on the [team] radio, I don&#8217;t agree with what is happening [talks of a clampdown].<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I think you can not be too tough on these kinds of things,&#8221; <\/em>Sainz explained.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Because you cannot understand the pressure and adrenaline and the way we feel in the car when we open the radio.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Rks6c3gZRM1EGuwIwX4NjA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2188628768\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Rks6c3gZRM1EGuwIwX4NjA',sig:'rLUcwHoIcLdxcPrybAgiMg60Bp7XK0Z7uvkAG0v4BGU=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2188628768',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;And I feel for F1, it is good to have those moments because you see the real driver.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We are already very constrained as F1 drivers to what we can tell you about our teams, about out situations. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We already have a lot of media briefings, they already tell us what to say on the radio.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But when you hear that passion, those words, even if sometimes we swear on the radio, for me that&#8217;s a keeper in F1 and it is something we shouldn&#8217;t get rid of.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>A needless controversy for F1<\/h4>\n<p>As indicated in Albon&#8217;s comments, others on the field will likely share a very similar perspective.<\/p>\n<p>Considering that fans and drivers appear on the same page, it will be intriguing to see how this saga develops.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the FIA&#8217;s latest changes seem to be creating a problem that never actually existed.<\/p>\n<p>By creating greater restrictions on the drivers, further <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/11\/03\/max-verstappen-furious-with-bullsht-red-flag-timing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">backlash from the most important stakeholders in F1<\/a> seems imminent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2025 season approaching, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have provided the first indications into how drivers feel about the changes being imposed by the FIA. A few weeks ago, the FIA made changes to the sporting code &#8211; creating strong sanctions (including points deductions) for criticising the sport&#8217;s Governing body. There have also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":30342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[1295,343,2452,465,94],"class_list":["post-30341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-alex-albon","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-f1-news","tag-williams"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30348,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30341\/revisions\/30348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}