The FIA were left disappointed after booing received by Max Verstappen and Christian Horner during F1 75 event, urging the community to be mindful of things.
It was not a surprise the boos that Red Bull duo Verstappen and Horner received during the F1 75 launch show in O2 arena in London. The Dutchman had a mixed response of cheer and boss – much like Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – but the Brit faced most of the crowd against him when he spoke.
Horner did manage to speak through the hostile crowd at London, but one could sense the tension in the air. Naturally, it was not liked by them and also the FIA, who received their share of boos as well. The governing put down Red Bull’s boos to ‘tribalist’ set of fans, which was disappointing indeed.
The FIA has urged the community to be respectful, especially due to the growing polarisation via social media. “Great rivalries throughout the history of motorsport have contributed to making it such an exciting experience for fans,” said a statement handed out to the likes of Planet Network, The Race, and more.
“But what underpins sport at all levels is a culture of respect. As such, it was disappointing to hear the crowd’s tribalist reaction to FIA Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner, at the F1 launch in London. Max and Christian have both contributed greatly to the sport we love.
“In the season ahead we should not lose sight of that. As part of the FIA’s commitment to protect the integrity of the sport, we are leading a coalition tackling online abuse in sport under the banner of our United Against Online Abuse campaign. We stand with all of our competitors, officials, volunteers, and fans to unite against this growing threat. We urge the sporting community to consider the impact of their actions both online and offline.”
The boos against Verstappen and Horner stems from how the 2021 F1 season panned out when they were fighting against Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. It continued on since then, with a section of fans not in favour of the duo. The Dutchman faced larger criticism after fighting against McLaren’s Lando Norris in 2024 as well.
Carlos Sainz, GPDA –
Carlos Sainz has been named the director of Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) as a replacement of Sebastian Vettel, with the German no longer an active F1 racer.
It is not surprising for Vettel to leave his GPDA director role considering he is no longer an active F1 driver and for sometime has interests outside racing. Even though Alexander Wurz and Anastasia Fowle are not active racers, they are still associated with the sport and closely follow whatever is happening.
And so, GPDA has decided to replace Vettel with Williams driver Sainz, who is an apt replacement considering how the Spaniard has been vocal about several things related to F1. The race winner joins Mercedes’ George Russell, Wurz and Fowle in the four-person panel to lead the association.
Wurz remains the chairman. “I am passionate about my sport and think we drivers have a responsibility to do all we can to work with the stakeholders to forward the sport in many aspects,” he said. “So I’m very happy and proud to do my part by taking on the director’s role in the GPDA.”
Meanwhile, Wurz added: “We are delighted to welcome Carlos as a GPDA director. He has been an active and engaged member of the GPDA for several years and we sincerely appreciate his commitment in stepping up to this vital role.”
Here’s FIA on V10 potential
Here’s F1 Exhibition info for Amsterdam
Here’s BTS of F1 movie
Here’s more BTS from F1 75 plus thoughts
Here’s the different liveries
Here’s F1 Commission decisions
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact