At the start of each Grand Prix weekend, drivers take part in an FIA briefing, during which ideas are discussed, points of view defended and also measures announced. Recently, at the Australian Grand Prix, drivers were held up for more than two hours after the FIA announced it would be tightening the screws on underwear this year, with controls in place .
In F1, drivers are required to wear fireproof clothing to ensure better protection in the event of a fire, the most telling example being Romain Grosjean’s accident at the 2020 Bahrain GP, where the Frenchman was trapped in the flames for about twenty seconds. And obviously, the FIA fears that the pilots violate the regulations on a very particular region of their body.
Pierre Gasly is not the most thrilled by this decision, not understanding why the FIA dwells on such small details. But how far are legislators willing to go? Not without a touch of irony, the AlphaTauri pilot gave the green light for a total inspection: “If they want to check my ass, don’t hesitate, I have nothing to hide. My dick (sic), everything. If it pleases them, don’t hesitate.”
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
Lewis Hamilton was not convinced by the FIA’s position either. The Briton expressed his doubts about the underwear affair, which is a safety issue for the FIA, while stressing that the representatives of the federation themselves took risks by not wearing a mask during the briefing for a race that was canceled two years in a row due to COVID.
“It was the longest briefing of my life”cursed the seven-time World Champion. “I’ve been racing for a long time and they’ve never done such a long briefing. Also, no one was wearing a mask. Some riders yes, but most [du personnel] FIA no, which made me feel uneasy. I don’t understand the little things they nitpicked about, like underwear. Do we really talk about that kind of stuff?”
But there are also pilots who do not see a problem. This is the case of Daniel Ricciardo, the McLaren driver having also shown himself to be understanding on the reminder of the ban on wearing jewelery while driving formulated by Niels Wittich, FIA race director, on the sidelines of the Australian GP.
“If someone says, ‘Don’t ride with a ring,’ then I’m not going to ride with a ring. I don’t mind and I’m not superstitious either. So stuff like that, a wrist strap happiness or whatever, that’s absolutely none of my business. So if it’s in our best interest not to wear [de bijoux]I totally agree with that.”he explained.
“But that was the first time I had heard of FR underwear. Of course we wear the leggings, if you want to call them that, but we don’t have real FR underwear. It was so surprisingly, I had never heard of it. If it helps us to be a little safer in these situations then of course I will invest. But I don’t believe they make it, at least the people who supply our racing kits, so we will have to buy custom ones. And I imagine it will be tailor-made, of course!”
Interview by Luke Smith
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