FIA President jokes ‘fine’ as Lando Norris drops f-bomb at Awards Giving
13th December 2025McLaren’s Lando Norris was jokingly fined by the re-elected FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, as the Briton collected his trophy.
Feature image credit: Gregory Lenormand // FIA
On Friday, Norris was formally awarded his world championship trophy for the Formula 1 drivers’ title at the FIA Awards ceremony in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
However, the world champion risked a fine when he dropped an f-bomb directly in front of the newly re-elected FIA President, Ben Sulayem.
When Norris entered the stage, Norris had his hair ruffled by Ben Sulayem, and he then proceeded to swear during his speech.
“I mean Oscar [Piastri] certainly didn’t make my life easy, and we had a great rivalry and competition against each other for the last three years,” Norris said.
“Obviously, in the second half of the season, Max [Verstappen] was catching up and putting pressure on both of us, and all of us as a team, and we had some great moments.
“Of course we’ve had some great wins, winning in Monaco and Silverstone was a dream, but I and we had our share of mistakes and f**k ups, can I say that here?
“Oh, sorry, I’ll get fined, but I can pay it off now. But we still made a fair share of mistakes and tough moments, but it was all worth it, and all part of the story.”
Before he was handed his trophy, Ben Sulayem joked he would’ve given the maiden world champion a fine.
The President has been advocating during his first term as FIA President for less swearing from the drivers, dishing out fines and public service work for those who swear outside their vehicles.
“I was going to give you a €5,000 fine, but now I think you need it for your hair after I messed it up,” Said President Ben Sulayem.
During the ceremony, McLaren also received their trophy for winning the constructors’ championship, secured in October this year, and received by both McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella.
All three winners were also joined by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who received his trophy for finishing third in the drivers’ championship, behind both Norris and Verstappen.
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
