Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hit out at the “disappointing” booing of his driver Max Verstappen at last week’s glitzy Formula One season launch event at the O2 in London. But rival Zak Brown effectively told him to get over it, McLaren’s chief executive arguing that booing was “part of sport” and adding that he had seen “a lot worse”.
F1’s drivers and teams have congregated in Bahrain for pre-season testing ahead of the 2025 season-opener in Melbourne on March 16, offering fans a first glimpse of this year’s cars alongside each other.
But much of the talk on the first of three days of action revolved around last week’s launch event in London, which was a first of its kind, with all 10 teams given seven minutes on stage in front of a live crowd of 16,000 fans.
Horner was audibly booed by fans during Red Bull’s segment, while Verstappen appeared to be given a mixed reception when he was shown on the screens at the O2 Arena.
The FIA, the sport’s governing body, later denounced the crowd’s behaviour as “tribalist” in a statement that raised concerns about online abuse, while Verstappen’s father Jos revealed Red Bull’s four-time world champion might refuse to attend next year’s event if it took place in England again.
Asked about that in Tuesday’s press conference in Bahrain, Horner said he had no issues with his own reception but felt the booing of Verstappen was “disappointing”.
“I mean, it was a big event; it was obvious all the teams put a lot of effort into it, which was good and interesting to see,” he said. “Now of course, launching your car is a bit [like] launching your away strip in a home fan stadium and so fans will always back the teams and drivers that they want to, and of course, we’ve been the protagonists over the years.
“I guess the only disappointment I had with it was the reception to Max as a four-time world champion. That was disappointing. But passion in sport is always going to be there. If the launch would have been in Holland, no doubt the reception would have been somewhat different.”
Sitting next to him, Brown was unmoved. The American has emerged as one of Horner’s biggest rivals over the last 12 months, both on the track as their two teams scrapped over the world title, and off it, with Brown calling for greater “transparency” from Red Bull in its investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled at Horner by a female colleague.
Brown said fans at the O2 were simply being fans.
“I’ve never been to a sporting event that’s been quiet, where someone’s not yelling at a football player for missing a goal, or in ice hockey or baseball,” he said.
“Sport brings out passion in fans, and they cheer and they boo. I didn’t hear anything that was other than cheering and booing. I’ve certainly seen a lot worse on social media, where you go, ‘wait a minute, you’re kind of going a bit too far’.
“But cheering and booing has been part of sport, every sport, forever, and that’s what fans do. They yell at their TV when they’re watching with their buddies.
“Everyone has a favourite team, a favourite driver, a less favourite side. I just think that’s sport. I didn’t think there was anything violent, and you definitely see other sports that have had riots break out. That was far from that.”
