Formula 1 accused of joke censorship at London launch

(GMM) Comedian Jack Whitehall (pictured) has lifted the lid on Formula 1’s strict control over jokes and references at the sport’s high-profile live launch event early this year.

Appearing on Chris Moyles’ Radio X show, Whitehall said his script for the London season launch was “heavily policed” – to the point where even a harmless joke about George Russell required direct approval from the Mercedes driver.

“On that F1 show I had a line where I said he reminded me of the TikTok trainspotter,” Whitehall revealed. “My script was heavily policed – they went through everything.

“They were like – no Bernie jokes. You can’t talk about Flavio Briatore. Everything got cut.”

One mild Russell gag survived briefly – until Formula 1’s handlers intervened.

“There was this one George Russell joke and they were like, ‘Yeah, you can’t do that’,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m sure he’ll find it funny’. They said the only way was to get his permission.”

What followed, Whitehall admitted, was surreal.

“They said ‘Yes, you can voice-note you telling the joke to his team, and they’ll play it to George’,” he recounted.

“So I voice-noted the joke: ‘Hi George, so you’re going to be at this show, I’m just asking for your permission’ and I told the joke. And he was like: ‘Yeah, absolutely fine’.

“They all have a sense of humor – it’s the people around them who are terrified.”

Whitehall went on to criticize F1’s increasingly rigid media environment.

“You see drivers being interviewed everywhere, and the team has someone standing next to them recording everything even though you’re already recording it,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense. But that person’s on 42,000 pounds a year and flies all over the world.”

Despite the criticism, F1 legend Gerhard Berger defended Liberty Media’s management of the sport in La Repubblica.

“I’m a bit old-fashioned, but that doesn’t matter,” Berger said. “Formula 1 is in incredibly good health, more than ever before.

“Liberty Media and Stefano Domenicali are working excellently with the new communication tools, Netflix, film. I’m curious to see how far this modernization of the sport will go.”