There has been a huge fuss about both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen swearing on the podium after the Abu Dhabi GP last Sunday. Both men used "the f-words" when they were interviewed live on television. There have been several complaints coming from members of the public as well as the broadcasters. So is this a ridiculous fuss about nothing or is this based on a true concern? Things can be looked at from many points of view...
I agree that there´re are many far more serious offences in the world than bad language. You can easily say that "boys are boys" and they didn´t mean to offend anyone. With all that adrenaline in your blood after a thrilling race it is highly understandable that you´re not 100 % focused on the words that come out of your mouth. So far this has happened only once and Sebastian has apologised for choosing the wrong words in the heat of the moment. In my opinion swearing makes the F1 drivers human: they´re extremely talented professionals but they aren´t perfect! Mistakes can be made by any of us! But there´re definitely reasons why these guys have to make sure that this won´t happen again... I mean swearing once is forgivable but if it happens more often it´s a bad and inappropriate habit.
There are millions of people in the world who look up to these guys and consider them role models. That´s why I can see a point of complaining about them using bad language in international interviews. It does matter how these F1 stars put their words in live interviews! Drivers like Sebastian and Kimi have a huge influence on their fans. Fans want to identify with their idols and follow their example. And bad language is never a good example for anyone!
Some people might think that using bad language makes them look cool. "The f-words" are thought to make your message sound stronger and you can emphasize your feelings with swearing words. But the F1 stars have absolutely no need to try to look cool! They are in the limelight all the time anyway and they are in a position where millions of people would love to be. Fans are passionate to hear what these guys have to say and the drivers´ feelings and emotions can be seen from their expressions and gestures! Swearing words are definitely not needed in their interviews! The words you choose can make a huge difference. Look at Kimi´s team radio messages for example! Now Kimi has sent the whole Lotus team T-shirts with the text "Leave me alone, I know what I´m doing" :) Perfect choice of words indeed!
Sebastian has already apologised for swearing on the podium. To me that´s extremely cool! It´s definitely cool to apologise when you know you have made a mistake. As far as I know Kimi hasn´t... Kimi is in the class of his own in terms of words! He´s very straight forward with words: he says things how they are and doesn´t make any excuses. Swearing could well be seen as a part of speaking "Oppa Kimi Style", hahahaha ;D But I´m glad Kimi´s legendary team radio messages don´t include bad words. This proves that even Kimi doesn´t need them: he can make his point very clear in a totally appropriate way!
I work as a pre-school teacher at a private kindergarten here in Finland. An F1 driver and a pre-school teacher don´t have many things in common in their work but there is one similarity: you have to be careful what you say! In my work it would be a total catastrophe to use "the f-words" in front of the children or the parents! As a professional I´m a role model to the children and there´re kids who really look up to me. And I have noticed that everything I do, say or what I´m interested in, has even a scaringly big influence on the children. There have naturally been situations where you have felt the temptation to use some bad words but being a professional means you think before you act! With power (great or small) comes great responsibility! I have to admit I´m no perfect in minding my language in free time so every once in a while some swearing words have slipped out of my mouth in front of my sons...
Considering all these various angles I can understand why FIA has send "a friendly letter" to all teams to remind their drivers to mind their language. Bad language is never good for anybody! You can either do a lot of good or a lot of bad just with the choice of your words! That fact should always be taken into account in everything you say.
P.S. Just to ensure that an episode like this won´t happen again, I have a friendly request to Sebastian... When learning Finnish please ignore the swearing words ;) Your Finnish sounds perfectly beautiful so please use beautiful words only ;) And though I don´t always fully accept what Sebastian does or says, he is still my hero and I support him from the bottom of my heart, no matter what!
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