Christian Horner and Max Verstappen reflect on the boos they got during F1 75 event, as Zak Brown and Toto Wolff share their views on the situation.
Out of all the parties, it was Red Bull’s Horner and Verstappen, who received the burnt of fans in F1 75 event in O2 arena in London during the group launch. The Dutchman had less so, but the Brit got most of it when he spoke to introduce his team on the stage with the car.
Both Verstappen and Liam Lawson did not speak eventually, who were the only ones not to. The FIA were disappointed by the ‘tribalist’ nature of the F1 fans. The Dutchman played down the incident when asked about the incident during the on-going Bahrain pre-season test.
His team boss Horner too had similar feelings but was disappointed due to boos that a four-time champion Verstappen received. Otherwise, he was fine considering the different groups of fans that the sport has, which was echoed by McLaren’s Brown, who thought booing was still acceptable.
Considering how the other sports fans undertake riots and sometimes go on a rampage for their favourite player or team, the booing in F1 is still on acceptable terms. Mercedes’ Wolff was surprised by boos that Horner got, where he noted that Verstappen didn’t get as much.
Christian Horner: “It was a big event. Obviously all the teams put a lot of effort into it, which was quite interesting to see. Of course, launching your car is a bit like launching your away strip with a home fan stadium. So fans will always back the teams and drivers that they want to and of course, we’ve been the protagonists over the years. I guess the only disappointment I had with it was the reception for Max as a four-time world champion. That was disappointing, but passion in sport is always going to be there. If the launch would have been in Holland, no doubt the reception would have been somewhat different. They [the FIA] made their own comments, it was nothing we certainly asked for.
“We didn’t have any conversation with the FIA following the event it was obviously a part of their campaign to stamp out online abuse. The fans of course are the DNA of the sport. I think the fandom has changed over the last few years as we’ve been welcoming more and more diverse fans to the sport. Sport is polarising and competitive sport across any premier sport in the world. Fans are passionate and they support their drivers, predominantly they support their teams. You can’t dictate that. We’re delighted to race in such a big audience. You’re going to get different reactions depending on where you race in the world. That’s the same in any elite sport.”
Max Verstappen: “There was booing? Maybe I am deaf, I don’t really need to talk about it, it is not worth my time.”
Zak Brown: “The event was pretty awesome for the fans. I think we need to do more of those types of events, whether it’s pre-season, whether it’s more opportunities for our fans when we’re testing the tyres, year-end awards – there’s not currently an F1 awards, there’s the FIA, there’s Autosport, both great events that aren’t exclusively to F1. I’m a fan of fan events. I’ve seen other sports do that quite well. I think we’re making good progress there. I think I’ve never been to a sporting event that’s been quiet, where someone’s not yelling at a football player for missing a goal, or ice hockey, or baseball. I think sport brings out passionate fans, and they cheer, and they boo.
“I didn’t hear anything that was other than cheering and booing. I’ve certainly seen a lot worse on social media where you go, ‘Wait a minute, you’re kind of going a bit too far’, but cheering and booing has been part of sport, every sport, forever. That’s what fans do. They yell at their TV when they’re watching with their buddies. Everyone has a favorite team, a favorite driver, less favourites. I just think that’s sport. I didn’t think there was anything visceral or violent, and you definitely see other sports that have had riots break out, and that was far from that. So, I just think it was sports and fans doing what fans do when they kind of voice their opinion on who they’re cheering for or not.”
Toto Wolff: “First of all, we either didn’t know what to expect from the event and it was very good. The job that some of the smaller teams did in terms of marketing in the launch was exceptional. Everything was immaculate. The organization was really good. It was a top event for our sponsors that really enjoyed it. That’s the feedback we got. And we need to applaud Formula One for what they did. I’m sure this format is going to expand in the next few years, maybe to different places and that’s exceptional.
“We were all surprised of the amount of booing that happened, particularly to one individual. There wasn’t any booing really on Max. That was then coming in was a consequence of what happened before. But that was big and bad and came as a surprise to everyone. It’s his home turf and still Christian got this boos, so boos shouldn’t be in the spot. But in my opinion, that wasn’t directed to Max.”
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