Formula 1’s celebratory 75th anniversary event took place in London to kickstart the new season, featuring livery launches from all 10 teams on the grid.
Every driver was present at the event including Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, despite the former claiming he wanted to miss it at the end of last season.
Each team was given a handful of minutes to introduce their car and livery for the season in front of 15,000 fans at the O2 arena in London, with some receiving mixed receptions compared to others.
Verstappen and Red Bull’s Christian Horner were both booed by fans, with many of them aimed at the team principal when he took to the stage to introduce their car for the season.
The FIA was reportedly not pleased with how Red Bull was treated by fans, with itself also bearing the brunt of some heckles by fans, while Damon Hill also posted a four-word reaction to the governing body’s statement.
Reacting to the news when speaking to Sky Sports, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has defended the format and the fans who were present at the event.
Toto Wolff defends F1 75 fans after booing directed to Max Verstappen and Red Bull
The FIA issued a statement in the wake of the event, saying it was “disappointing” to hear “tribalist reaction” to Verstappen and Horner.
The governing body made reference to its aims to stamp out online abuse, which is partially also the reason why they have issued stricter rules on misconduct into the International Sporting Code for all drivers.
Wolff defended the crowd by praising the event when speaking to reporter Craig Slater, which went off without any trouble and appeared to be a success among fans.
Wolff: “I don’t think that Max was booed and we shouldn’t talk an event down that was mega just because of one single individual was rightly or wrongly booed when he spoke. So it was a great event, the spectators there were great and the presentation of the cars sets a new format for the years to come. That is the positive we need to take from that.”
Slater: “You weren’t booing Christian were you?”
Wolff: “No! There were 15,000 people, it wasn’t necessary for me.”
Red Bull unhappy booing was only directed towards them
Red Bull appeared to be the only team to have a negative reaction from the crowd, despite them not being as dominant as they previously were in 2024.
The team and Verstappen have usually been on the receiving end of a bad reception from the crowd due to their dominance after the Dutchman won 19 races in 2023.
Red Bull were reportedly unhappy that it was only directed towards them, with the team expecting to hear some fans booing Wolff or McLaren when they took to the stage.
F1 was also forced to water down comedian Jack Whitehall, with his monologue needing the approval of all the teams before he took to the stage on the night.
