Lotus deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi says the media are to blame for drivers giving boring quotes, not F1 teams.
Emerson Fittipaldi recently called for drivers to be more outspoken with their views and even openly criticise their teams or other drivers when required. However, when asked for his opinion on Fittipaldi's comments, Gastaldi says Lotus does not restrict its drivers from saying what they think, but blames media reporting for forcing them to be careful with their words.
"Now if you say anything even slightly out of the normal it’s repeated, misreported, analysed and regurgitated across all forms of media and I think many drivers have taken a wise approach to this; the less controversial you say, the less time you have to spend answering questions about it!" Gastaldi said.
"This is part of the reason why drivers have evolved into sounding like politicians when asked many questions. They want to drive, not spend hours discussing their opinions on whether Kim Kardashian should appear on the front of Rolling Stone magazine."
Gastaldi's comments come after Lotus CEO Matthew Carter blamed the media for negativity surrounding F1, saying critical comments from Bernie Ecclestone are a response to what is reported in the press.
F1i view
We should probably stay quiet on this one...
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