F1 Journalist Suspended After Disgusting Language Used To Reference Lance Stroll

An F1 commentator has been suspended after a video of some of his commentary during the Austrian Grand Prix went viral, as he used shocking language to describe Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Commentating for Belgian broadcasters RTBF Sport, Lionel Froissart describes Stroll as “the autistic” during the coverage of Sunday’s Grand Prix. His colleague commentating alongside him was noticeably put back by this comment, with him later describing the language as “too strong”, adding that Froissart had gone “too far”.

The commentator, who has now been suspended, stands by his comments, describing them as the “truth”. His employer didn’t agree, and has responded in a statement after suspending him.

Disagreeing with what the commentator said, RTBF added that “associating autism with a driver’s way of communicating was misplaced and completely inconsistent with RTBF values”, adding that there will be an internal investigation. On top of this, they have confirmed that “pending the results of this investigation, RTBF will no longer work with the consultant in question until further notice”.

Alexandre Khaldi, a French journalist, has also confirmed that the commentary has been removed from F1TV on Austrian GP replays.

Aston Martin is yet to comment.