WRC champion Tanak confused after clampdown on swearing

On the back of the swearing saga, WRC champion Ott Tanak responded to the clampdown, expressing uncertainty about what can and cannot be said in public anymore.

The issue arose after Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued a statement three weeks ago, confirming that the FIA will take a stricter approach regarding swearing. Just days after the FIA President’s announcement, reigning world champion Max Verstappen was investigated for using bad language at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Dutch racer was due to attend FIA's press conference that usually takes place on Thursday ahead of race weekends. The reigning champion used bad language for which he was summoned to the stewards.

The incident happened after Verstappen was asked to reflect on the performance of his car, describing his car’s setup at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as “f—ed”.

After the stewards reviewed the audio transcript and heard from the driver and Red Bull team representatives, they elected to punish Verstappen for swearing in the pre-event press conference, with the Red Bull driver now obliged “to accomplish some work of public interest”.

Speaking of the incident, Estonian rally world champion Ott Tänak expressed uncertainty about what can and cannot be said in public anymore.

"Let’s see how the rally will be. It is quite interesting times at the moment, not sure how much I can say but I’m living the dream and enjoying the cars.

"I meant it is strange times in motorsport generally where you need to be very careful what you say and how you express your emotions—they are not really allowed for the moment."

There was a similar incident in the WRC to Verstappen's press conference. Eight-time rally world champion Sebastien Ogier criticized officials during the Rally of Greece, which resulted in a suspended €30,000 fine.

"Yeah, in rallying with Seb and in Formula 1 as well and with all these things coming together it seems we are really on the radar at the moment, so let’s see where it goes from here."

"Probably the promoter should take us to one side and really explain to us what they expecting, but for the moment to give stage end interviews without any emotion, it is really difficult to know how to act. It is an interesting time."