FIA warns Wolff and Vasseur over press conference language

Mercedes and Ferrari team principals Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur have both been warned over their language during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The pair both dropped f-bombs at different stages of the FIA press conference that had immediately followed the cancelled FP1 session in Vegas, amid multiple questions about the track defect that had damaged Carlos Sainz’s car. Vasseur stated that “We f***d-up the session for Carlos” when being pushed about the event, while Wolff responded to an off-microphone comment from a reporter with: “And then you're speaking about a f***ing drain cover that's been undone, that has happened before.”

Both were summoned to see the stewards in Abu Dhabi -- with this weekend’s stewards hearing their explanations -- and issued with formal warnings for their use of language, although both were given leniency over certain aspects.

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For Wolff, the stewards determined that: “Based on the submission from the team principal, the use of the language concerned was in this case unusual and was provoked by an abrupt interjection during the press conference and therefore cannot be regarded as typical from this team principal.”

Although Vasseur regularly swears in interviews or in general conversation, the stewards also took into account how soon after the expensive incident with Sainz the press conference was taking place.

“In this case, the team principal was extremely upset and frustrated by the incident that had occurred in FP1 and that language such as this, by him, was not usual.”