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10 hours ago
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands attends the F1 75 Live launch event at the O2 arena in London, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The FIA was so bothered by booing directed at Max Verstappen and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner this week that it issued a statement about the boos on Saturday.
The four-time defending F1 champion and his team boss were booed at the F1 75 event on Tuesday in London, which served as the official unveiling of each team’s paint schemes ahead of the 2025 season. The reaction toward the two shouldn’t have been terribly surprising; Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton are both British, and Red Bull and Verstappen have supplanted them at the top of F1 with the Dutch driver’s dominance over the past three seasons.
Yet the FIA inexplicably issued a statement on Saturday calling the booing “tribalist” and used it as an opportunity to talk about establishing a “coalition” against online abuse.
“Great rivalries throughout the history of motorsport have contributed to make it such an exciting experience for fans,” the statement said. “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 One 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.”
Boos have been commonplace at sporting events for decades. And, quite frankly, booing is an accepted practice. It’s OK to show your displeasure with a competitor or team within reason. And, as many people realize, there’s a clear distinction between booing someone or something and issuing personal threats either in person or via social media. The FIA surely knows the difference as well, right?
Saturday’s statement simply looks like another effort in the FIA’s limitations of speech. The sanctioning body has started fining drivers for cursing during interviews and has threatened sanctions for statements that could cause “moral injury” to an FIA official. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has even publicly mused about censoring live radio communications between drivers and teams during races because of swearing.
While the FIA has every right to make the rules in the sports series it governs, it also should probably focus on much more important issues than booing and cuss words.
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