WRC drivers begin protest against FIA at Safari Rally Kenya

World Rally Championship drivers have opted to remain silent or limit their comments in stage end television interviews in protest against the FIA’s move to sanction drivers for using inappropriate language at Safari Rally Kenya.

The WRC drivers have decided to take such action after Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was issued with a €10,000 fine and a suspended €20,000 fine by the world motorsport governing body for swearing during a television interview at the conclusion of Rally Sweden, last month.

Fourmaux was deemed to have breached Article 12.2.1.l of the 2025 FIA International Sporting Code that covers use of “inappropriate language” after saying “we f—ed up yesterday” during an interview when referring to a messy start to stage 11. 

Hyundai Motorsport

Drivers refused to comment or only spoke in their mother tongue to explain why they are not  commenting during stage end interviews after Wednesday’s shakedown in Kenya. It is anticipated that this stance could continue throughout the remaining days of the event.

“I believe you already know there will be little to no communication from us this weekend and everyone will do it in their own language,” said reigning world champion Thierry Neuville in his native French language after Wednesday’s shakedown.

“We are sorry there has been no more communication between the FIA and us [drivers]. We are not the kind of people that insult or offend others. We feel sorry for the fans but we have taken this decision together.”   

Since Fourmaux became the first driver to fall foul of the FIA’s clampdown on the use of “inappropriate language”, that includes Formula 1, the WRC drivers have formed the World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA).

The group issued a lengthy statement last month opposing the FIA’s opposing the measures the FIA has taken to impose fines on drivers for swearing.

The statement called for communication with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to find an “urgent solution” to the matter, stating the “severity of the sanctions imposed for minor, isolated and unintentional language lapses” have reached “an unacceptable level”.

The FIA is yet to comment on the matter or begin dialogue with the WRC drivers.

 

WoRDA issued another statement today explaining the stance of its members at this weekend’s third round of the World Rally Championship in Kenya.

“We all agree to keep rudeness at the microphone to a minimum. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a certain freedom of expression and to keep emotions alive while drivers don't need to be afraid of getting punished in any way,” read the WoRDA statement.

“We have asked the President of the FIA for some positive changes in the rules to help us achieve this goal.

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“For the reasons explained in our statement, it is impossible for us to guarantee that we (Drivers and Co-drivers) will be able to follow these rules perfectly and systematically.

“This is why we - WoRDA Members -  are now taking the responsible decision to remain silent at the end of the interviews or to answer in our mother tongue.

“In the own interest of our sport, such an action is unfortunately needed, and we apologise to all the Rally Fans, even though we know they support us in this.”

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