Carlos Sainz has risked a further fine after swearing in an official news conference when discussing a punishment he was given at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Williams driver was fined €10,000 (£8,648), with half of it suspended, in Suzuka last weekend after turning up late for the playing of the national anthem on the grid.
That was despite him explaining that he had experienced stomach issues that required a trip to the toilet.
Sainz said during media day at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday: “I’m the biggest supporter of punctuality and being – in a way – a gentleman, being punctual to things, and especially a national anthem, with all the authorities there.
“So I was the first one to put my hand up and say, ‘I’m late. I’m sorry for that.’
“At the same time, I was five seconds late. And to be five seconds late and have to pay €10,000 or whatever the fine is, for me, it is out of the question that we are having to pay these fines.
“But yeah, I don’t know if I’m going to get another fine for saying this, but s*** happens.”
Sainz’s choice to employ a swear word in a news conference risks him being given a further fine by governing body the FIA, which over the winter changed the sport’s rules to codify a series of penalties for swearing.
The move followed Max Verstappen being forced to do the equivalent of community service for swearing in a news conference at the Singapore Grand Prix last September.
Sainz is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and said before the start of the season that he thought fining drivers for swearing was wrong.
His fellow GPDA director George Russell of Mercedes said: “It’s a pretty expensive poo.”
Russell went on to express his frustration with the FIA, following the resignation on Thursday of the deputy president of sport, Robert Reid, in protest at the organisation’s direction.
“We have been talking about this on and off for six months now,” Russell said. “I don’t want to give it any more air time from my personal perspective, because we have said everything we’ve had to say. Unfortunately, it has had little or no impact.
“We just want collaboration. It doesn’t make any sense to be fighting on these topics.”
Sainz added: “It’s disappointing. I hope, as I’ve always said, I hope someone tells me where this €10K goes. And they say, ‘OK, at least it went to a nice cause,’ and I will be looking forward to seeing where they go.”
