'If you don't like where F1 is headed, it'll leave you behind'

F1

Cheering when drivers crash is understandable but there's no room for harassment, writes Chris Medland — F1's fanbase is changing, and if a minority don't adapt, they'll be left behind

Crowd of F1 fans at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix

The crowd in Melbourne earlier this year: F1 fans are becoming younger and more diverse

George Hitchens/Getty Images

This column has very little to do with on-track behaviours or racing action, but matters of far more importance.

At the end of the day, Formula 1 is a sport. It’s a business that provides jobs to many who work in and around it, true, but to far more people it is something that provides escapism, an identity and a way of feeling part of something as only sports can.

In Austria last weekend, the way people feel a part of it — or otherwise — was called into question. And I’m going to start with a question that while instantly anger some I’m sure:

What’s wrong with cheering when a driver goes off?

I’m going to qualify that quickly. If you’re at any sporting event watching people or teams compete against each other and you’re supporting one particular participant, then you’re likely to be pleased if things don’t go well for a rival. More specifically, if they’re a threat to the team or competitor you’re backing, then your favourite’s chances of success will have increased, and you’re going to have a positive emotional reaction to that.

Lewis Hamilton crashes out of qualifying at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix

Safety improvements mean that drivers are typically unscathed after crashes, such as Hamilton’s in Austria

Guenther Iby/Getty Images

In Formula 1 terms, seeing that rival go off would induce a response, but as is often the case that response can quickly change into concern for the person involved if they crash.

That’s not to excuse the reaction to every incident, but despite topics we’ll get onto shortly I have some faith in humanity that if it was Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen heading upside down towards a barrier as Zhou Guanyu was at Silverstone, the crowd reaction would be very different to that of some fans at the Red Bull Ring when Hamilton went off at Turn 7, regardless of the venue.

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I think it’s important to differentiate between those who wish harm on a driver, and those who are simply celebrating a mistake that boosts their team’s chances. We may have become too accustomed to seeing drivers emerged unscathed from crashes that some don’t appreciate how serious even a low-speed accident could become, but there are varying degrees of incident and there has to be varying degrees of acceptance when it comes to how fans react.

But while the nuance surrounding fans reacting to on-track incidents doesn’t provide a simple catch-all answer, any accusations of sexism, homophobia and racism from fans towards others does. And Toto Wolff summed it up perfectly:

“Stay away, we don’t want you if you are part of that group. F**k off.”

There’s no two ways about it. Harassment has zero upside. This isn’t a debate about atmosphere or support. It’s not something that needs addressing in a balanced way like the potential for your driver’s day to be getting better versus respect for someone who has gone off track, it’s a completely one-way street in the wrong direction.

Orange smoke from Max Verstappen fans in the crowd at the 2022 Austrian GP

Fans are always passionate at the Austrian GP and 99.9% are incredible, says Wolff

Having more raucous atmospheres in some areas of a track than others is fine, it’s catering to different people to have different options. Not every event or every area of it has to be the ideal scenario for everyone, because that doesn’t exist and would automatically become the ideal scenario for no-one.

But to abuse someone for the team or the driver they support, and even worse linking that to their gender, race, or sexuality, has to be stamped out immediately by everyone.

And by everyone, while it comes down specifically to race promoters and their security measures, as well as F1 and its policies at races, a lot can be done by the vast majority of fans who are incredible people that deserve praise for not being part of the 0.01%.

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“We need to be careful just because there are a few drunk dumb-arses out there that haven’t comprehended how the world goes today, we shouldn’t condemn the 99.9% of fans who come here,” Wolff also said of Austria. “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.”

There were accounts of similar behaviour at Silverstone too, and where you get big numbers of passionate supporters of one particular driver or another — especially Hamilton and Verstappen after last season’s controversies — the 0.01% will be far more obvious than in a crowd with a different balance.

But it is the make-up of those crowds that has been changing, and so attitudes and behaviours have to change, too. As Wolff says, people will very much be left behind if they don’t evolve and adapt, and F1 has shown itself to be a sport that is willing to leave people behind.

With an average age of fan that has been declining since 2017, and an increase in female followers to the point that as of 2021 they account for 40% of F1 fans, the whole demographic is different even to just five years ago, let alone 10 or 20. And so much more of that demographic prioritises inclusivity and diversity, and follows the sport in a way that they have platforms to call out incidents and challenge.

It won’t always make life comfortable for F1, but it’s reflective of the wider world and it’s only heading in one direction. It might not always be comfortable or easy for a fan, too, to call out or report abuse, but it’s important. Calling out doesn’t mean being combative, it means a gentle nudge of ‘Not cool’ or even just a quiet word in someone’s ear you know, or in the ear of a steward if you don’t.

Crowd of young F1 fans at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix

F1 doesn’t want a new generation of fans to be deterred from races

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

One of the things that makes F1 so great is its inclusivity, and what is a pretty unique overall love of the sport that goes alongside fandom for one team or driver. That needs to be harnessed and protected, by multiple stakeholders.

The fact that there were those who felt targeted in Austria and had experiences that might lead them to never come back should at the very least act as a warning that similar could follow if action isn’t taken.

Stances like Wolff’s were not an outlier, and the message is very clear: as F1 is growing it is also changing, and there’s a tiny percentage that needs to change with it or they’re going to get left behind, and nobody will be looking back for them.

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