Zak Brown threw his support behind the FIA's controversial move to ban unapproved political statements from Formula 1 drivers and believes recent protests had got "out of control".
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are among the drivers who have used their platforms to highlight social injustice and other causes. Vettel has campaigned for gay rights and environmental measures while Hamilton famously wore a T-shirt calling for the police officers who shot dead African-American woman Breonna Taylor to be arrested.
Earlier this month the World Motor Sport Council voted to change the wording of the International Sporting Code (ISC), meaning any future protests not pre-approved in writing will be banned. The FIA said the change had been made "to align itself to the practices of other similar international sports organisations such as FIFA, IOC and FIBA on the matter of neutrality".
The move was criticised by many, who feel the FIA has made a backwards step by prohibiting drivers from using their platforms to champion good causes. But McLaren chief executive Brown is among those who are supportive of the move.
He told ESPN : "It's tricky, right? Because some of the topics are really good, some are controversial, some are polarising. I think in general we want to be a sport that is doing good. We just need to find a balance there and not have every start of a race being a new political agenda for someone. I don't think that's healthy as it can detract from what everyone has tuned in to, which is they want to watch a grand prix.
"I'm glad the door is open for drivers and teams to talk to the FIA if there's an issue they want to discuss. It wasn't a 'You can't do it.' It was 'You can't do it without our permission.' So at least the door is open. Everyone is allowed freedom of speech. It did get out of control at times with so much messaging going on.
"Does it detract from the focus of the sport? These drivers can do this stuff in their own time, so I think it is within Formula 1 and the FIA's right to say here's the code of conduct we expect for you to follow during a grand prix weekend. You're free to do whatever you want to do Monday through to Friday, so to speak, but obviously it's at a grand prix weekend the drivers have the most cameras on them."
Asked if he felt the topic of censorship becoming a huge talking point at the World Cup in Qatar had led to the change, Brown added: "I'm not sure if something triggered it, I don't know if it's coming out of the World Cup and it being a big topic there.
"Politics is tricky by nature. That's what they're probably, at a macro level, trying to avoid is 'Let's not have Formula 1 become a political hotbed for various topics'. But it is damned if you do, damned if you don't, on some of these topics. I think that's what we're trying to avoid, let's not turn Formula 1 into a political sport. Let's just go racing and be respectful of where we're racing.
"There's not a one-size-fits-all in this world for political parties or political agendas, so I think there's a good way that every team, driver, can carry their values in a way that's non-controversial. It's becoming a hot topic in all these sports. In NFL it was taking a knee, that started there. You've got the armbands in Qatar. I think those things can start to deviate away from sport and that's where we need to find the right balance."
