FIA rejected Ferrucci request for Trump slogan livery

Trident has confirmed the FIA rejected a request made by Santino Ferrucci and his family to race with President Donald Trump's slogan, 'Make America Great Again', on his car during last weekend's Formula 2 round at Silverstone.

Ferrucci was handed a two-round ban and a €60,000 fine after deliberately hitting Trident teammate Arjun Maini on the cool-down lap at the end of Sunday's sprint race at Silverstone. Ferrucci also refused to attend the stewards' hearing regarding the incident, was deemed to have pushed Maini off-track during the race, and was also fined a further €6,000 for using his phone while driving the car.

Trident issued a statement following the incidents saying the matter was being dealt with by its lawyers, saying "in these 12 years of sporting activity has anything even close to this ever occurred," as well as referring to "uncivilised behaviour" from both Ferrucci and his father.

The story took another twist on Monday when a letter, dated July 3, was leaked online in which the FIA rejected a request from Trident to place the 'Make America Great Again' slogan made famous by President Trump during his election campaign in 2016, citing that "competitors are not allowed to affix to their automobiles advertising that is political in nature."

Trident team principal Maurizio Salvadori confirmed to Crash.net that the request had been made following pressure by the Ferrucci family before hitting out at the leaking of the letter.

"Everyone in the motorsport field is aware that it is forbidden to affix to their automobile advertising that is political in nature," Salvadori told Crash.net.

"When I was approached with this request on behalf of the Ferrucci family, I tried to explain the impossibility to adhere to this demand.

"Upon their insistence, I requested a written opinion from the FIA that, once received, I forwarded to the Ferrucci family.

"The fact that this letter is circulating today on social media seems to me like a clumsy attempt to take the attention away from the principal problem that is, Santino’s and his father’s behaviour on and outside the track in last weekend's races."

Somehow, there's ANOTHER twist to the Santino Ferrucci story. The FIA turned down a request by Ferrucci to run a "Make America Great Again" Trump livery for the Silverstone weekend. This story keeps getting more and more insane. pic.twitter.com/mjdYlAfrv8

— Dannić Brennović (@DannyBrennan72) July 9, 2018

Formula 2 declined to comment on the matter when approached by Crash.net. Ferrucci's ban means he is unable to race in F2 until the round at Monza in Italy at the beginning of September.