In today's FIA governed motorsports theatres you will be confronted with a lot of languages. But if the shit hits the fan (read: a dispute arises), which language should be considered to be the only official and legally binding language?
Art. 197 of FIA's international sporting code prescribes that in the event of a dispute concerning the interpretation of said code by the FIA or by the International Court of Appeal, the French text alone shall be considered as the official text.
However, there is one exception to this 50 year old rule: Formula One. In art. 1 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations it is ruled that in case of any dispute as to their intepretation, the only official langage shall be the English version. The question comes up: why? What is wrong with the French language? And if there is something wrong with that, why forms Formula One the only exception to this rule?
With respect to motor sports event governed by national sporting authorities (hereinafter referred to as "ASN") the language rules typically differ. For instance, in the Dutch motor sport regulations (art. 4) it is provisioned that the legally binding language is the language in which the specific text originates, e.g. the French language for FIA's International Sporting Code, the English language for the Supplementary Regulations Part A and B and the Dutch language for the regulations of the KNAF, as Dutch ASN. To make this tower of Babylon even more complex: this rule implies that the Dutch drivers, team managers and theirs lawyers have to cope with 4 language in case of a dispute:
1. FIA CSI: French
2. KNAF regulations: Dutch
3. Regulations of the event: English
4. Technical Regulations of the DTCC: German
Needless to summarise that the application and interpretation of these various regulations in various legally binding languages may lead to considerable disputes and the creation of a lawyer's paradise.
Why not one (English) size fits all?
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