Red Bull give tongue-in-cheek response to new FIA swearing guidelines

Max Verstappen has got on the wrong side of the FIA once or twice during his F1 career
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team have channelled the spirit of legendary football manager Jose Mourinho in a cheeky response to the FIA’s new swearing guidelines for the F1 2025 season.
The FIA have revealed new stewards’ guidelines for F1 2025 with drivers set to face stricter punishments for misconduct during the new season.
Red Bull’s cheeky response to FIA’s new swearing guidelines for F1 2025
Under the new system, drivers will be at risk of heavy fines, race bans and even points deductions.
The changes arrive after a high-profile incident involving Verstappen at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, which resulted in a stand off between the World Champion and the FIA.
Verstappen was sanctioned for swearing in an FIA press conference in Singapore, just days after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem unveiled plans to clampdown on foul language.
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In a controversial statement, Ben Sulayem had insisted that F1 has to “differentiate between our sport and rap music.”
Verstappen was forced to ‘undertake some work of public interest’ and later appeared alongside Ben Sulayem at a grassroots motorsport community event in Rwanda ahead of December’s FIA prize-giving ceremony.
In response to his punishment, Verstappen proceeded to stage a form of protest for the remainder of the Singapore GP weekend, being noticeably unforthcoming in FIA press conferences and offering a series of brief answers.
After qualifying at the Marina Bay venue, Verstappen held an impromptu media gathering in the paddock immediately after the official FIA session had ended.
Verstappen’s stance was supported by his fellow drivers including seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who publicly told Verstappen not to serve his punishment.
Lando Norris, the McLaren driver, also described the action taken against Verstappen as “pretty unfair.”
Verstappen’s protest even spread across motorsport, with eight-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier also staging a silent protest after being fined for comments in an interview at the end of a stage.
The FIA’s new guidelines have been interpreted as a bold attempt to keep drivers in line in F1 2025 and avoid a similar situation to the stand off with Verstappen in Singapore.
And responding to the governing body’s action on Thursday, Red Bull could not resist a cheeky riposte to the changes.
A post on the team’s official Threads account featured an image from Verstappen’s impromptu media session in the Singapore GP paddock, with an emoji of a face holding a finger to its lips and the accompanying caption: “If we speak…”
The caption is a reference to a famous internet clip of Mourinho, the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager, who refused to engage in an interview after losing a match.
Mourinho, in charge of Chelsea at the time, saw two of his players sent off in a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in 2014.
In the full clip, when asked about the referee Mourinho says: “I prefer really not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble. In big trouble. And I don’t want to be in big trouble.”
Football managers are are not allowed to question the integrity of referees or imply bias in post-match interviews, with fines and touchline bans among common punishments for the offence.
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Verstappen has frequently warned over recent years that he is likely to retire young, citing his frustration with a number of elements of modern F1.
In a recent documentary by Viaplay, Verstappen admitted that being “punished like a little kid” for his comments in Singapore had left him questioning his place in the sport.
He said:?“That’s something I don’t like about F1.
“Of course, I understand that you can’t swear in a press conference, but it was an expression that came out very quickly.
“We all grew up like that, people sat there too. And some people say: ‘My five-year-old grandson is watching this too.’
“When I was five years old, I was also sitting among adults and swearing.
“You want to behave harshly like a child towards others. That’s part of it.
“Of course, you have to watch your language, but to be punished like a little kid makes me wonder: what are we doing in this sport?”
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