Formula 1 Discussion - Page 118

On July 10 2022 12:10 Ben... wrote:
I just saw on Motorsport that the FIA fined Vettel $25k for walking out of a driver meeting after reportedly getting heated. Apparently at the meeting they were arguing about how inconsistent stewarding has been from weekend to weekend.

Senior Formula 1 figures have condemned the abuse some fans experienced during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Mercedes invited a Lewis Hamilton fan into their garage during Sunday’s race after they learned she’d been harassed. Her dress was lifted by drunk spectators who told her she didn’t deserve respect because she was a Hamilton fan.

“We found out that this has happened and that’s just not on,” said team principal Toto Wolff said in response to a question from RaceFans.

“That needs to stop,” he added. “If you are a Formula 1 fan, whatever team, whatever driver, you can’t be a racist, [sexist] and you can’t be homophobic because then you don’t fit Formula 1 and we don’t want you."

"On the other side, we need to be careful,” he said. “Just because there’s a few drunk, dumb-arses out there that haven’t comprehended how the world goes today, we shouldn’t condemn the 99.9% of the fans that come here.

“There is always going to be these idiots around. I hope we provided a good show for the rest and these ones can stay at home.””

On July 11 2022 01:46 Ben... wrote:
Red Bull and Verstappen need to get the "Oranje Army" under control because this is completely unacceptable. There's been people saying for a few years now that some of the people in this fan group are super toxic but it seems to be getting worse. They're the ones who started cheering when drivers crash and act like assholes to anyone not cheering for Verstappen.

Mercedes brought Hamilton fan into garage after sexist abuse at Austrian GP


This was far from the only incident being reported this weekend. Apparently a group of people started homophobic chants and a bunch of horrible stuff was reportedly being done as well.

edit: Verstappen has now made a statement on this.

On July 11 2022 03:48 Excludos wrote:


Both the British at Silverstone and Austrian/Netherland fans at RBR have been absolutely appaling. Booing, cheering at crashes, harassing women, drunken fighting. Honestly, I don't mind if these tracks are removed for a year as punishment. If fans can't behave, they shouldn't get to show up. Hooligan behaviour needs to be stamped out immediately

On July 11 2022 03:57 Penev wrote:

I can assure you this has happens at way more tracks than Silverstone and Spielberg, and for a very long time. I saw someone mention that Barcelona doesn't have this problem (as much) because you can't get alcohol at the event. I've been to the Barcelona race once and now I think about it, it did seem a lot more civil than the others I've been to.

On July 11 2022 02:57 Penev wrote:
Why do you have to focus so much on the negative Ben, we can all find Reddit ourselves fine you know. Did you notice no booing, again, when Hamilton got interviewed? Comment on that. Your outrage seems very much inline with your bias has to be said.

There are, unfortunately, always some assholes be themselves, there were some at Silverstone as well last week (there was a big fight). I've been to a few races myself and seen groups misbehave every time, wearing all kinds of colors. It's disingenuous to speak about the "Oranje Army" specifically when 99% of them are not at all doing this kind of shit. That's not to say F1 shouldn't try and repulse these assholes of course, whatever colors they are wearing.

On July 11 2022 04:43 Excludos wrote:


If this does happen more than we think, it sure haven't been reported on much before now. Either people and media simultaneously decided to report on these issues, or they were worse at the last two races than normally.

I'm not saying we can get rid off all idiots, but when I talk to girl friends who were at the track, and they report of constant harassment and catcalling, it's clear we're dealing with a worse than normal situation. I refuse to believe this is the norm

On July 11 2022 04:43 Excludos wrote:
If this does happen more than we think, it sure haven't been reported on much before now. Either people and media simultaneously decided to report on these issues, or they were worse at the last two races than normally.

I'm not saying we can get rid off all idiots, but when I talk to girl friends who were at the track, and they report of constant harassment and catcalling, it's clear we're dealing with a worse than normal situation. I refuse to believe this is the norm

On July 11 2022 05:01 Ben... wrote:

I just find this stuff disgusting. I've watched F1 for years and it's never been this bad until the last year or two. We're talking about different things really since you're talking about small groups of hardcore fans while I'm talking about the rise of gigantic hardcore fandoms that are openly marketed to by promoters and teams. Liberty Media and some of those around F1 have been cheering on the rise of the Oranje Army and this type of large scale hardcore fandom for the last few years while ignoring that there's a particularly nasty side effect to doing so since it can attract shitty people. Booing Hamilton barely registers compared to some of the things that happened this weekend. The articles I posted are about fans being harassed and in some cases women being physically touched without consent.

You're bizarre assumption that I'm being biased against Red Bull in this is wrong. I supported Max last year and I supported Red Bull for the last several years. I've simply been a fan of F1 for years and don't want to see the type of toxic garbage we see constantly in football develop in F1. I've seen a bunch of Max fans also address this issue and they're not tip-toeing around it. They openly talk about how a small but very loud portion of the Oranje Army fandom is essentially a group of belligerent football hooligan-like people that latched onto Verstappen when he started to win and now show up at F1 races and act like jerks. F1 and certain race promoters have been treating this all as a marketing opportunity but haven't stepped up to make sure that people who aren't part of these fandoms are protected and able to have a good time also. It's why we're now seeing Verstappen and others call for more security and that type of thing at events along with potential bans from F1 events for people found to be acting badly. I'm not saying this type of thing didn't happen at Silverstone in some capacity but it's been bad enough this weekend that it's become a major part of the narrative for two days now. It can't just be ignored.

You can't just ignore the shitty parts of F1 and go "yay racing!". F1 keeps playing with fire with some of the decisions they've been making lately and it's important that drivers and fans of the sport not let them get away with it because they've already shown that they're willing to ruin a great sport just to make more money.

If you think my posts are too negative or whatever and don't want to engage with them then don't. Nobody's forcing you to read them or respond to them.

On July 11 2022 05:42 Penev wrote:

You posted the ridiculous "Max was abused narrative" a while ago, without any proof whatsoever, straight out off the Reddit sowing circle. Don't you think a little bit more evidence is needed before posting a claim like that? I'm calling you biased because you are very specific about the controversies you post. Also if you nuanced your posts more like you did in your last that would be very nice as well thank you very much.

Don't forget how Reddit and other social media works, there is a lot of repetition which can make things seem worse than they are. You should be aware there was a lot of crap happening in Silverstone as well that got a lot less coverage for some reason making it seem nothing happened.

And of course Max and others are commenting on this topic because they get asked to do so. Either in a press conference or by their teams pr department.

On July 11 2022 06:02 Ben... wrote:

I don't read reddit at all but okay, keep claiming I do (notice that I never link reddit for anything, only actual decent motorsports news sites or direct communications from teams themselves).

It's been widely known for years that Verstappen's dad is not a great person and has had a series of fairly serious allegations and even a conviction. Parts of the media around F1 don't talk to him at all for a reason. I'm sorry but even if Max minimized the event, an adult even considering leaving their child behind because the kid did bad in a sports event is gross.

Max is a great driver and from what others have said is a nice person outside of racing. I have nothing against him. His dad is a convicted spousal abuser who at the very least acted in a shitty fashion towards his son. I'm not going to apologize for thinking that the guy sucks and F1 should ignore him.