Zak Brown has a solution to avoid swearing
Sanctioned for a swear word in a press conference last season, Max Verstappen was punished by the FIA. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, calls for editing these comments out rather than imposing community service on drivers.
The incident dates back to last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Max Verstappen, reigning world champion, uttered a swear word during an official FIA press conference. The result? A sanction in the form of community service.
A decision that has certainly sparked debate, especially since the FIA, under the presidency of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has clearly expressed its desire to eliminate swearing from the paddock. However, not everyone sees it the same way. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association reminded that there is a difference between insulting someone and uttering a swear word in the heat of the moment.
Why not filter?
Invited on the *James Allen on F1 podcast*, Zak Brown took the opportunity to share his opinion. For him, the real problem is not what the drivers say, but what the TV production broadcasts. “We have the power to hit the delay button or erase the broadcast,” he explains. “If we don’t like it or think it’s too inappropriate, we simply don’t air it.” His reasoning is clear: drivers are not robots, they experience races at 300 km/h with immense pressure, and emotions are part of the sport. Punishing a driver for a word spoken in the adrenaline rush of a race weekend is excessive.
Attention, Zak Brown is not saying that everything is allowed either. He distinguishes between what happens on the track and what happens off it. « I agree with swearing in certain circumstances. But during a press conference where everything is calm, without emotion, there is no reason to swear », he nuances. He takes the example of other sports: « You don’t see Michael Jordan in the NBA… well, I know I’m wrong because he hasn’t played for a while… but you don’t see athletes or managers using insults in a press conference ». In other words, a driver getting upset after an incident in a race is acceptable. Throwing a swear word in front of the media during a conference is more debatable.
Keep the emotion and avoid censorship
What Zak Brown really wants is to find a middle ground: « Showing emotion, passion, and intensity is a good thing. A little is fine, but we have the power, in the production studio, to hit the pause button ». Instead of punishing the drivers, production should better manage what it broadcasts. This is already the case for radios where certain phrases are cut before reaching the viewers. « It would be unrealistic to say that you can’t swear when wearing the helmet », he concludes. There you have it.
