McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown has weighed in on the ongoing debate over Formula 1 drivers swearing on team radios, arguing that it should be the job of television broadcasters – not the drivers – to manage foul language during live coverage.
Brown believes that while cursing in a calm press conference setting is unnecessary, the raw emotions of racing should not be censored at the source.
Speaking to James Allen on the latter’s F1 podcast, Brown made it clear that there’s a time and place for everything – including swearing.
No Room for F-Bombs in Press Conferences
“The swearing I agree with in certain circumstances, meaning in a press conference where everything is quite chilled out, there’s no emotion involved, there’s no reason to swear,” commented Brown.
“You don’t see Michael Jordan in the NBA – I know I’m dating myself because he’s not played for a while – but you don’t see athletes or managers in press conferences just dropping F-bombs.
“I think that’s inappropriate and we should set a good example.”
Brown’s stance follows up on recent concerns from the FIA about drivers’ language, particularly after Max Verstappen was handed a community service penalty for swearing during an official press conference last year.
The governing body subsequently amended its sporting code and introduced new behavior guidelines and heavy fines for driver who repeatedly swear – or criticize the FIA, a move that has sparked a pushback from the Grand Prix Drivers Association
Swearing on Team Radio? Just Edit It Out
While Brown agrees that swearing should be avoided in a public forum, the McLaren chief takes a far more relaxed view when it comes to drivers letting loose in the heat of a battle.
“I think when the helmet is on, you’re in the heat of the battle, I would imagine on a football pitch or a baseball field, there’s a lot of stuff that we just don’t hear because they’re not mic’d up,” he explained.
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Instead of expecting drivers to filter their words in the middle of intense competition, Brown pointed to TV broadcasters as the ones responsible for deciding what goes on air.
“We do have the power to hit the delay button or delete on the broadcast,” he stated. “You actually can control whether it makes it onto TV or not by just hitting the delete button.”
For Brown, the solution is simple: let the emotions flow but be mindful of what gets aired.
“I think showing the emotion and the passion and the intensity is good. A little bit of it is okay, but we’ve got the power in the production studio to hit the pause button,” he said.
“So I think that’s how you solve that. It would be unrealistic to say you can’t swear when the helmet is on.”
A Balanced Approach
Brown’s stance offers a middle ground in the debate: keep press conferences professional, but accept that in the thick of on-track action, drivers will be drivers.
With F1’s TV crews already equipped with tools to filter out profanities, Brown sees no reason to burden competitors with the impossible task of self-censorship in the adrenaline-fueled world of racing.
In his view, the solution is as simple as a well-placed “bleep” button.
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