Juan Pablo Montoya has labelled the FIA as "petty" and warned the governing body that F1 could ask it to leave Max Verstappen "alone" after swear-gate.
Hours after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued a call for drivers to swear less, Verstappen described his Red Bull as "fucked" during the Azerbaijan GP weekend when in the official FIA press conference ahead of the Singapore weekend.
He was handed community service by the stewards for the incident, which Lewis Hamilton branded as a "joke" and urged a boycott by his fellow world champion, with Verstappen then refusing to engage in the post-qualifying press conference.
Ben Sulayem is keen to see a reduction in the number of radio messages also broadcast by FOM featuring swearing, but six-time grand prix winner Montoya believes the FIA over-stepped the mark.
"The FIA over-reacted, after what happened in the press conference Max should just have been given a warning. It's petty as hell," Montoya told Gambling Zone.
"The way [Max] managed it, I think it's classic, but at the end of the day, F1 at some point is going to tell the FIA to leave him alone because they need him.
"At some point, the FIA has to go: ‘Oh, we screwed up,', but at the same time, they will feel that they need to stand by their decision as well.
“So, what do you do? Do you stand by your decision and play the long game? Or do you sit down with him and say: 'We’ve punished you but we’ll make it easy for you.
"'But we need to set the standard, so we don't take the penalties away, but we're going to come up with a solution that it's amicable for both parties.'
"For example, they could get some kids to the track as a special event and they’ll say to Max they’ll need him for 20 minutes there and then we'll call a truce while reminding him he has to watch his language, and the problem would be solved."
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An 'ego thing'
Montoya also felt that because it was Verstappen who swore in the press conference in Singapore, an example was made out of him by the FIA.
"If it becomes an ego thing and escalates, when does F1 step in and say to the FIA this is not good for the sport?" he said.
"If it was another driver, it probably wouldn't be an issue, but they tried to make an issue of it. Max is outspoken.
"They say they want drivers to be nice and not swear so why are [FOM] happy to publicise when they're screaming on the radio?
"Nobody talks about that because they know they want to build the sport and create that atmosphere. That is great. But you can’t have it both ways."
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It has been a year since Max Verstappen won his third F1 title - with six grands prix to spare. Now Verstappen is in a fight this year, and with Red Bull under pressure to deliver him a car to retain his crown. Join RacingNews365's Ian, Sam and Nick as they discuss this and more ahead of the final six races.
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