Oliver Solberg receives FIA penalty for swearing at Rally Estonia

FIA has sanctioned Rally Estonia leader Oliver Solberg with a reprimand and a suspended €2,000 fine for using profanity during a fan interview session at the World Rally Championship event.

The incident occurred during the ‘Meet The Crews’ session in the service park — an area categorized as a ‘controlled zone’ by FIA regarding inappropriate language use. This differs from stage-end interviews which are considered an ‘uncontrolled zone’.

According to the released FIA stewards report, Solberg and team representatives immediately acknowledged the mistake and apologized. FIA took into consideration that this was Solberg’s first offense and English is not his native language.

“The stewards recognize that the word has become colloquial and is often used as an expression of emotion, particularly by the younger generation, but FIA remains committed to ensuring inappropriate language is not used in controlled areas,” the report stated.

This sanction marks the first since rule revisions — following Adrien Fourmaux’s €10,000 fine for swearing during an interview at Rally Sweden several months ago.