After initially deciding that this year I wasn't going to attend any motorsport events, I ended up purchasing a last minute ticket to qualifying day at the F1 British Grand Prix. It was probably one of the best decisions that I have ever made. However, I, at times, felt uncomfortable due to the booing that was aimed towards a certain driver and team. Then, during the Austrian GP qualifying, a large number of fans cheered when another driver crashed out of the session. All of this got me thinking. Should behaviour like this be banned at sporting events? Or, am I just really that sensitive.
Booing and cheering incidents/crashes isn't new to Formula One and plenty of big names such as Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Verstappen and the likes of Senna and Prost, have all been victim to what is essentially a form of verbal abuse.
Verbal abuse, as stated by verywellmind.com, is described as a form of emotional abuse when someone uses their words to degrade another person. And, correct me if I am wrong but, isn't this how some F1 fans are behaving?
This behaviour is quite prevalent in many sports not just F1. And, with the matter recently being heavily debated in all forms of communications and media, I decided to do some research into why some sport fans see this as an acceptable form of behaviour. I have concluded that it's all about competition, idolisation, and the fans desire for a hero/villain narrative. And, thanks to the easier access into the world of Formula One (social media and a particular Netflix series,) these particular factors in the typical fans behaviour is becoming more prevalent.
But should the likes of competition and idolisation make it ok to book someone or cheer over an accident? Personally, no, I think not. It's derogatory and hooligan like behaviour. People seem to forget the drivers aren't fictional characters in a story that we see on TV. They are real people with real feelings and real emotions. And, even though the likes of Max Verstappen have come out and said that he is not affected by any of it, I can assure you that he is. His body language on the grid after the British GP qualifying session assured me of that but yet, I could be wrong.
Depsite that, it's not acceptable behaviour and I cannot understand or justify as to why people think that it's ok to act like this. I understand that this is a sport and rivalry has a big impact on how fans behave, but come on guys, let's just have a bit more respect please.
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