Formula 1’s first-ever livery launch which gathered all 10 teams brought elements of a race weekend to the one-off event, including the return of the divisive topic of booing certain stars.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and reigning world champion Max Verstappen received poor receptions, while the mention of the FIA also gained a negative reaction from fans inside London’s O2 Arena.
Fans booing in F1 isn’t anything new, but the situation sparked debate over the rights and the wrongs of it at F175. Our writers offer their views.
If cheering is permitted then why not booing? – Ben Hunt
Like it or not, booing is now part of F1 and while it can be uncomfortable for the recipient - just as Max Verstappen found out - it is simply another element to the changing face of the series.
Like the introduction of social media influencers, huge livery launches, pre-race shows and three races in the US, F1 has changed considerably.
The difference being that unlike the above, reactions from the fans, such a booing - or cheering - is organic and not manufactured.
Outpouring in emotion is part of live sport and provides an added element to the dramatisation. There is the opinion that as spectators paid their money, they are entitled to their view. Why should that not encompass booing if cheering is permitted?
In the same way that those fans have given these drivers and team bosses the social profile, their opinions matter. So let’s see that passion, rather than scoff and disapprove.
F175 not the place for booing – Jake Boxall-Legge
In sports like football, booing is understandable. When a rival team is pitched against your own, of course you're going to emit low-frequency jeers and bawdy songs about the questionable parentage of the other fans. That's normal, and expected.
In F1? I don't really love it - and what's worse is that it's completely one-sided. At the F175 event, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner drew the majority of the pelters from the audience, their appearances on camera drowned out by a rumbling storm of mild discontent. The assertion is that Red Bull has long revelled in the pantomime villain role, but neither looked like they enjoyed it.
Had Horner turned around and said, quoting Parks & Recreation's Dennis Feinstein, that he was "nourished by their hatred" then it would be fine. In reality, it made an event that had otherwise been a feel-good celebration of F1's coming season feel a little uncomfortable. Instead, both driver and principal looked bemused. Time and place, and this didn't quite feel like either.
Booing has been a part of live sport and entertainment long before F175 – Alex Kalinauckas
"You don't hear a lot of booing, which means we've got a great British spirit here."
There was something utterly delightful about how wrong Lewis Hamilton was about to be on the podium after the 2016 British GP. Seconds later, as ex-F1-driver-turned-presenter Mark Webber turned to runner-up Nico Rosberg, the home crowd vented their feelings one week on from Hamilton being on the receiving end of such feelings in the aftermath of the intra-Mercedes shunting in Austria.
It's all very well trying to rise above it, but this is base human nature and a part of sporting entertainment since ancient times.
And, if you’re A: going to revel in playing a pantomime villain for a generation and B: lionise F1’s ‘gladiatorial spirit’ at the opportunity provided by basically every television camera, it just must be expected that this comes with the territory.
Hosting F1’s first season launch event in London made sense given the geographic locations of the majority of the teams at a critical point of the season for car preparations – including liveries. London is also the home base of championship promoter and organiser, Formula One Management. Some home favouritism from the fans paying to attend was to be anticipated and, indeed, we understand Red Bull was braced for this – if not to the extent it occurred on Tuesday night.
I’d expect something similar in Amsterdam or Austria – based on the past example, at least – and it is the right of every crowd to express themselves. There’s far too much trying to shut this down across society and motorsport’s niche too – hence why the FIA got a vocal kicking too during the briefest of mentions for the governing body in FOM’s glitzy show.
This situation, overall, is neither new nor surprising. And this is a billion-dollar industry designed to glorify the epic glory of speed, where far lower mudslinging tactics are constantly engaged to try and gain even the slightest competitive edge.
Spare me the hand-wringing, please.
Fans paid to be there, can do what they want within reason – Mark Mann-Bryans
Tickets for the event sold out within 45 minutes and were priced between £58-£113. These fans really wanted to be inside the O2 Arena for the first (and possibly only) livery launch event.
Of course, just owning a ticket does not give the holder right to cross a line with any personal attacks or abuse of the talent that took to the stage during the evening.
But simple jeering? What is there to say other than ‘you pays your money and you takes your choice’. If that choice was to boo Red Bull boss Christian Horner – who is usually happy to live up to the Disneyesque bad guy role cast upon him by Drive to Survive, then so what?
Horner rolled with the punches, as did Max Verstappen when he received a more mixed reaction from a crowd giddy with anticipation. Nothing stepped over a line, and at any sort of sporting event there is always a villain of the piece – F1 should be pleased to see such partisan reaction among its fanbase.
The FIA doesn’t exist to be liked but boos reflect its current popularity – Oleg Karpov
Imagine at any football match - let's say at half-time - the public announcer says: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause to the referees for doing their job" - would there be a round of applause? Or booing instead? Something tells me the latter. At best - complete silence.
Putting the boos for Christian Horner and Max Verstappen to one side on this matter, the FIA isn't there to be liked. It's there to make sure that the teams respect the rules, that the cars are safe, that they comply with the technical regulations and that all the necessary procedures are followed. It's not supposed to be popular. And as a regulator, it shouldn't be looking for that either.
Perhaps the FIA shouldn't have been mentioned at F175 at all. But for whatever reason it was. And the best reaction from the audience would have been silence. Which would mean that the FIA is simply doing its job as a regulator. And booing doesn't really mean that they're failing as an organisation.
What it represents is probably a reaction to its current leadership image. Most probably to its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and his style - because it's mostly him who represents the FIA to the outside world.
Whether he likes it or not is another question. It certainly doesn't look like it's bothering him at all. What it probably says is that this FIA role isn't exactly the right one for someone looking for applause. And booing isn't really surprising. But silence would have been a much better response.
