FIA accused of wanting to make an example out of Max Verstappen in the swearing incident by former F1 team boss
Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan feels that Max Verstappen was targeted by the FIA as the governing body wanted to make an example of him. Much has been said about how the Red Bull driver using the F-word to describe how his car was in Baku led to him getting community service.
This has led to a back-and-forth, and even the Grand Prix Driver Association has voiced its concern about over-interference in how the drivers should behave. What made things worse was Charles Leclerc not getting the community service like Max Verstappen did after he was also caught using the F-word.
Verstappen made his displeasure known by opting not to speak too much to the media in the press conference afterward. Weighing in on the situation, Eddie Jordan told Talksport that he felt Verstappen was targeted by the FIA, he said:
"It's a storm in a teacup, it's absolutely nonsense. Personally, I think it started out by wanting to have a little bit of a swipe at Max. But Max is too clever for an awful lot of people, as we saw, not just on the track, but off the track. All of the top drivers in F1 all agree. Look, if the car is knackered and you want to use the F-word, then that's what you use."
Verstappen made a point about clarifying where he stood afterward as well when he specified how he would continue to keep his answers to a minimum while talking to the media in the FIA press conferences.
Max Verstappen used the 'most used word' in the English language
Eddie Jordan felt that there was just an overreaction to what Max Verstappen had said and felt that the F-word was arguably one of the most used words in the English language right now. Moreover, the word was not directed at a person but at his car, which was in bad condition in Baku.
Jordan said:
"It's the most used word in the English language at this moment in time, whether we like it or not, but naturally, you don't want to use it in a confrontational point-of-view, and you don't want to use it in an aggressive point-of-view."
He added:
"But when you're depicting something, and something has happened, and you say the car is stuffed, or whatever it is, and if you want to use the F-word to describe that, I think that describes it brilliantly, because, hey, everyone knows that it's absolutely knackered."
Max Verstappen getting a community service while Charles Leclerc getting away with a suspended fine is something that enraged the fans as well. The FIA was called out on the double standards of how they dealt with the entire situation.