‘Not a swear word’ – Lando Norris forces Jack Whitehall to step in following X-rated comment at F1 75 launch event
Lando Norris had a slight slip of the tongue during an interview at Formula 1's launch event for the 2025 season.
Norris was in attendance at the 02 Arena in London on Tuesday night as all ten teams on this year's grid unveiled their new cars.
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The event marks the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 and offers fans a first glimpse of their favourite drivers ahead of the new season.
McLaren star Norris came second in last year's Drivers' Championship and could be competing for the world title in 2025.
It therefore came as no surprise that F1 75 Live host Jack Whitehall was eager to speak to him at the glitzy event.
The comedian asked Norris about his life in the off-season and joked that he takes the 'odd supercar into Kwik Fit'.
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";Is it hard with all of those Drive to Survive cameras in your face all the time to properly chill out, were you able to Netflix and chill?" Whitehall asked.
"I did," Norris responded with a grin whilst the camera zoomed out and a microphone jokingly hung just centimetres from his face.
Whitehall then pushed it away and the McLaren driver laughed it off, although then appeared to mutter: "W*****s."
His interviewer cut a shocked and amused face at the remark before stepping in to say: "Please do not swear."
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"That's not a swear word," Norris insisted and then elaborated on his answer to the original question: "I made the most of it.
"I think everyone deserves a good off-season so I spent some time with my family, my friends. Yeah, a bit of Netflix and chill.
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"So I did it all, and I'm excited to get back in the car."
Having been in contention for the 2024 crown, Whitehall also asked Norris if 2025 could be his year on the track with McLaren.
"I hope so," he replied. "I'm working hard, the team are working hard.
"The team did an amazing job last year so if we can start the season like we ended, then yes, the answer's yes."
Norris also discussed the topic of potentially winning the F1 title this season ahead of the event.
He told the media: "After last year, I think we kind of have no excuses I guess.
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"In the past we've had our fair share of honest and true excuses, I think this year we kind of don't have any.
"We have nothing to hide behind. We proved last year we have everything we need and everything it takes to fight at the top and be the best.
"If we're not at the beginning of the season, then we're just not good enough, and we've not done a good enough job.
"But that's certainly not how we're thinking of things. That's not how our mentality has been.
"I guess as we ended [last] season, our next season's already started.
"For all the guys and girls back in the factories, giving us a car which can compete, a lot of what Formula 1 is, is having a car that can compete."
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On his teammate Oscar Piastri and himself both going for the Drivers' Championship, he continued: "I think we both as drivers, proved a lot last year in ourselves and in each other, of what we're capable of doing.
"And when we do have a car that's capable of fighting for wins and championships, we're able to maximise it.
"So I think we probably both say we're ready and we're excited for that challenge, but we also have a whole team behind us who are also excited.
"They know they're capable of making a quick car, so we're excited for this challenges this season.
"Maybe in the past, we've got ahead of ourselves at times before pre-season, so we're definitely not doing that.
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"But we're quite confident that we can start the season off in the best way and much better than we've done over the last six, seven years."
The new season starts with testing in Bahrain next week before the Australian Grand Prix begins on March 14.
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