The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, more commonly referred to as the FIA — or as of late, a joke — has certainly done a good job at one thing this year: making people upset.
The FIA has a long history of controversial decisions, my least favorite being its tendency to ban innovation (cough DAS cough) in a sport that literally is based on technological improvement. However, the all-powerful governing body of Formula 1 has the power to make an impact in more than just what I consider to be spiteful bans, and in 2024 alone, there seemed to be a surplus of these ridiculous calls.
FIA v Max Verstappen
Old news by now, but essential for the purpose of this article, the FIA made “big moves” during the Singapore Grand Prix by administering community service to (now four-time) world champion Max Verstappen for…swearing in a press conference. The FIA explained that “It is the policy of the FIA to ensure that language used in its public forums, such as press conferences, meets generally accepted standards for all audiences and broadcasts. In particular this is true of statements made by participants in the World Championships and thus being role models both inside and outside the sport.” Sure, swear less. That’s completely fine, but community service? People swear sometimes, it’s real life. In my opinion, that’s fine. I get some people think strongly about the issue, but divvying out community service punishments for it seems a bit over the top, and also not what the FIA should be spending so much energy on.
FIA v The World Championship
The 2024 Circuit of the Americas ended with a clear Ferrari 1-2 by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (yay!). The battle for third, though, proved a bit more troublesome. At the time current championship leader Max Verstappen battled second-placerunner Lando Norris for the fifteen points granted to third place. In a different light, Verstappen and Norris were fighting over the three points (fourth place is granted twelve) that would either widen or close the 54 point gap between them. Nine times in history has the championship been determined by a single point, so these two drivers certainly weren’t too keen on losing three. On lap 52, turn 12 of the 56 lap race, Norris tried to overtake and both drivers left track limits battling it out. Norris ended in front. He remained in front, and would have swept up those three points if not for the 5 second penalty administered by the FIA for gaining an advantage outside of track limits. While I understand the FIA’s interpretation of the rule book in this instance, the call seemed, to me and many others, a bit iffy. It seemed like Verstappen’s late braking caused Norris to go off just to leave space, and since Verstappen was out of track limits as well and Norris clearly overtook him, leaving this as a racing incident seemed perfectly okay to me.
On to the next race, Mexico, where Verstappen and Norris continued their battle with quite a bit more aggression. This time, Verstappen took two 10 second penalties, the first for forcing Norris off, the second for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. By his post-race media interview, Verstappen was complaining more about the lacking pace of his RB20 than the penalties, but I still had my focus on the former. For a similar situation as last week, Verstappen got a whole lot more of a harsher punishment. I understand the FIA’s need to account for safety, but I don’t understand how 20 seconds of penalties was the best solution. Racing is complicated, in these instances of championship contenders battling it out for position changing points, the FIA’s meddling only means to over-complicate matters.
FIA v The Extra Point
As a fan of the extra point, my jaw did in fact drop when I heard they were banning it. In Formula 1, While most points are awarded by place position, a singular point is allocated to the driver with the fastest lap if (and only if) they finish in the top ten. It was introduced in 2019, and though it’s a little bit stupid, I think it’s fun. No clear reason for the point’s departure was provided, but the announcement that the extra point will not be returning in 2025 came suspiciously soon after RB (V-CARB, whatever they call it now) driver Daniel Riccardo picked up the extra point in Singapore, preventing it from going to championship contender Lando Norris (as mentioned earlier, 1 point has had some sway in the championship in the past).
FIA v The People
At the end of the day, like every sport, Formula 1 exists to create joy. People have popularized this continually advancing race of technology for the very fact that it is fun. And while of course rules need to be instilled to keep the sport from chaos, sometimes I feel the FIA forgets that its job is just that, and not any more. Calling certain penalties always has and always will be controversial, but when the fans, the press, and even the athletes are all in absolute shock at the continuous array of unnecessary penalties or extreme ones where a simple warning would suffice, then I think it’s clear that something is amiss. I refrained from listing many real racing penalties, because every season there are just too many of them, but even off the track the FIA is too uptight. It’s a dangerous sport, yes, but it’s also just people trying to do what people do and have some fun, either racing cars or watching them. Too many rules is a hindrance to the mood of the day and the talent of the drivers, and I think it would do some good if the FIA could focus on the purpose behind its job for a moment, and not just the power of its name.