Verstappen booed at F1 75 - RacingNews365 writers have their say

The F1 75 event from London saw all 10 teams launch their liveries for the new season as the sport celebrates its 75th year in existence.

Red Bull was the only team to not have interviews on the stage when the livery was launched, a decision that would have been agreed beforehand.

Perhaps the Milton Keynes-based squad anticipated the reception it would receive as both team principal Christian Horner and four-time champion Max Verstappen faced a hostile reaction.

While there were some cheers for Verstappen at times, such support was overshadowed by the notable boos - but what do the RacingNews365 writers think of the situation?

Jake Nichol - Respect the achievements if not the man

First things first, publicly, Max Verstappen won't care a bit about the reception he got at the F1 75 event. 

As he has done throughout much of his career, the Dutchman will do his talking on track and usually have the last laugh.

F1 fans will always have their favourite drivers and those they dislike.

That is part and parcel of an elite sport and an occupational hazard for the driver who might not be the flavour of the month.

This was a highly partisan crowd at the O2 as evidenced by the cheers that greeted Lewis Hamilton, but it was a poor showing from the audience to deploy an unfriendly welcome to the reigning champion. 

Had this event been in New York, Melbourne or Amsterdam, it is doubtful such treatment would have been dished out.

The public always likes to latch onto a figure who they love to hate and hate to love. Once upon a time, Verstappen's traits of no-nonsense, calling a spade a spade and being a damn quick racing driver might have earned him a bit of respect.

You don't have to like the guy, but it takes nothing to have respect for what he's achieved in our sport.

Fergal Walsh - Boo-hoo for the four-time champion

Perhaps it is the exclusivity of having just 10 teams and 20 drivers at the forefront of the sport, but there has long been a stigma against booing in F1.

The jeering is nothing new, and Tuesday’s event was far from the first time that Verstappen has faced a hostile response from a crowd - it certainly won’t be the last.

Before him, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were booed amid their period of dominance as perhaps there's nothing that frustrates an F1 fan more than predictability. 

As he enters his 11th season as a full-time F1 driver, Verstappen has enjoyed various rivalries to date, some of the most prominent being with British drivers.

His 2021 scraps with Hamilton are unforgettable in the eyes of many, while his wheel-to-wheel fights with Lando Norris and his bizarre war of words with George Russell at the end of 2024 are still fresh in the memory.

It’s therefore no surprise then that the Dutchman was met with boos as he was placed in front of the sold-out O2 Arena in London.

Every show needs its villain, and it's clear that in the eyes of those who want a new winner, Verstappen is it.

But the opinions of these people, whom he will likely never meet or interact with, won’t worry him in the slightest. And on the off chance that they do, he can clutch his F1 drivers’ championship trophy tighter at night for extra comfort.

Nick Golding - Why Verstappen but not others?

Being the host of RacingNews365's videos, I quite often get to see the anger in the comments section regarding how Verstappen is treated by some groups of fans.

In my eyes, the booing of Verstappen whenever his name appeared or he appeared on camera during the F1 75 event was inexcusable and totally unnecessary. Love him or hate him, the Red Bull driver is already a legend of the sport. 

His four world titles and his ability should be embraced, not hated. What I cannot understand, is why Verstappen gets booed? The incident in Silverstone 2021 was not his fault, neither was the controversial conclusion of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. 

Verstappen is an aggressive driver who does, on occasion, go beyond the limit, but doesn't every world champion?

Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel even Lewis Hamilton have gone too far before, yet rarely got the negative reception Verstappen often receives. Bizarrely, in other sports, the driver who often speaks out against the media is adored by fans, yet that is not the case with the Red Bull driver.

The booing causes unwanted friction, tension, hate and abuse between fanbases, which, in my opinion, simply needs to stop. I end on this note, if F1 75 was held in Amsterdam, would Hamilton or any of the British drivers get booed? 

That would answer perhaps where the issue is coming from.

Samuel Coop - I did not expect anything different

Unfortunately, in many F1 circles, Max Verstappen has been reduced to that of a pantomime villain. Caricatured and portrayed as entirely one-dimensional.

That, in reality, is not the case, but F1 fans have grown increasingly partisan in recent years and the memory of 2021 endures.

Battle lines between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton supporters were clearly drawn and they remain to this day.

By chance, F1 75 was held on Hamilton’s turf, and it showed in the stark juxtaposition between his reception and Verstappen’s.

Both camps are entrenched and neither looks likely to cede any ground, especially on the eve of what could well be Verstappen vs. Hamilton part II - not to mention the Red Bull driver’s recent hostilities with George Russell and on-track skirmishes with Lando Norris during his latest title charge. In many ways, this was three fanbases against one.

Say what you will about elite impartiality in F1, commonly referred to as British media bias, but this was the polarisation of the masses displayed in full force.

You could write an entire dissertation on the relationship between those two factors and the influence of one over the other, but that does not escape from the visceral reaction to Verstappen from fans at the O2 Arena.

No one likes or wants to hear booing, but it is a regrettable byproduct of the current climate in F1.

Ultimately, if a sustained way to combat the proliferation of toxicity on social media can be found, it will go a considerable way to prevent tensions from spilling into forums designed to celebrate the championship.

For the sake of fairness, let’s hope the next event is held in Amsterdam.