Dan Ticktum’s swear-laden rant at last weekend’s Jeddah E-Prix will go unpunished despite the wishes of the FIA president to stamp out swearing.
The 25-year-old’s radio exchange with race engineer Michael Lee occurred midway through the opening contest of Saudi Arabia’s Formula E weekend.
It came after Ticktum’s car developed an electrical problem while he was running in sixth, requiring it to be reset before losing more time as Kiro also decided to change the front wing.
The hot-headed Ticktum reacted via team radio in a manner that contained 10 swear-words - something that was later published across social media.
Whether or not the Kiro driver was socially right to engage in such an exchange is another matter. What’s important is that, as of January 2025, swearing has been outlawed; a change pressed for by the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
It had been rushed through off the back of Max Verstappen receiving a community service punishment for swearing in a Formula 1 press conference, which he served ahead of December’s FIA Prize Giving ceremony in Rwanda, while Charles Leclerc suffered a fine for his own f-bomb during an interview.
However, the updated appendix B of the International Sporting Code that was published in January laid out the penalties for swearing and the subsequent punishments that could ultimately result in drivers being banned for continual breaches of misconduct.
Yet Ticktum’s tantrum will not see him punished by the organisation.
An FIA spokesperson said: “The stewards have been made aware and decided that no further action was needed as this happened in the context of a radio communication with the team and not during a media interview.”
A similar incident also occurred over the same weekend, as the World Rally Championship star Adrien Fourmaux became the first driver to be charged under the new rules.
On Sunday the Hyundai driver used the f-word in a television interview, causing a €10,000 fine. An interesting side note was that the penalty should have been €30,000 based on the FIA’s criteria, but in Sweden the stewards suspended €20,000 - largely because it was in his second language and “not intended to be offensive”.
Which is why the case with Ticktum is interesting, because firstly, the Briton was speaking in his native tongue, and secondly because it was most definitely offensive. The difference being that Ticktum was not speaking during a live press conference or interview, as in the case of Verstappen, Leclerc and Fourmaux.
Nonetheless, it was broadcast via the unfiltered real-time Formula E app and quickly played-out across social media.
Whether or not it is right to have drivers swearing is one thing, but it needs to become crystal clear from the start of this F1 season what is allowed and what isn’t.
This now sets the precedent where it is deemed OK for drivers to swear via team radio, but not in media interviews - an important distinction, so long as it forms consistency with the FIA’s decision-making and its penalties.
