Norris hits out at punishing drivers for swearing

McLaren driver Lando Norris thinks that drivers should not be punished for swearing, but Formula One should find a way to manage the broadcast more effectively.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix that he is trying to make changes, so there is less bad language broadcast by FOM (Formula One Management), who have control over the world feed for all F1 sessions.

His statement was followed up by an a pre-event press conference that saw Max Verstappen use bad language. The incident happened after Verstappen was asked to reflect on the performance of his car, describing his car’s setup at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as “f—ed”.

The Dutch racer was then summoned to the stewards who reviewed the audio transcript and heard from the driver and Red Bull team representatives. The stewards ultimately have elected to punish Verstappen for swearing, with the Red Bull driver now obliged “to accomplish some work of public interest”.

Following the debate over banning swearing in Formula 1, Lando Norris voiced his opinion, stating that drivers are under immense pressure when racing which can bring out emotions in the heat of the moment.

“They can just not play the radios. So it’s quite simple from their side. We’re the guys in the heat of the moment, under stress, under pressure, fighting, having big crashes.”

“It’s just a lot easier for them to say than for us to do because we’re out there putting our hearts on the line trying to race people. We are giving it our all, our heart rates are so high. We are just putting our passion and our love into it.”

“There’s going to be some bad words on the end of it. That’s just because we are trying and wanting to give our best and we feel hard done by when things don’t go right. If it’s because of excitement it’s because we are happy with what goes into it. I’m sure you have it in every other sport it’s just not always recorded.”

The two-time F1 race winner suggested that Formula One should manage the broadcast more effectively rather than punishing drivers for expressing their natural reaction in the heat of the moment.

“They [FOM] have the option to delete it or not play it so I think it’s more for them to do rather than for us to stop because we’re the ones in the position of being under pressure and being stressed and trying to get our points across to our team and that kind of thing.”

“I don’t think it should be banned, because I think you’re listening to the rawness of drivers and their thoughts and their feelings and things like that… So I’m sure there’s plenty of other sports and things you can go watch if that’s what you want to hear.”