F1 Fucked Up — Again
Howdy, hi, hello. Welcome to Engine Failure, a culture newsletter that dives into what the fuck is really going on in Formula 1. It’s written by me, Lily Herman.
Welcome back. This is a bleaker bonus issue than what I typically write for Engine Failure, but I’d like to believe it’s one of the most important issues that EF has ever had. (And while I want you to read this email, you can also find yesterday's more upbeat newsletter here.)
Today, we’re talking about the racist, sexist, and homophobic harassment and abuse that many attendees experienced at the Austrian Grand Prix. There’s a truly outrageous amount of stuff to unravel, but we’re going to slog around way through it together.
If you’re someone who tends to gloss over these kinds of problems or doesn’t like to confront them, I believe this is an opportunity to look inward and to read, think, and sit with what’s unfolding here.
What Happened in Austria
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Before we can talk about how to solve these issues, we need to go through them fully. This is a heads-up that the next few paragraphs deal with more explicit depictions of harassment and violence.
Here's where this all started: Throughout the weekend, users on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Discord, and other platforms began mentioning harassment and abuse they were experiencing at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix from other fans; many of the people targeted were women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Among the incidents reported by attendees: Other GP goers were yelling the N-word, catcalling and whistling at women just trying to go about their days, and using homophobic slurs, to name a couple of instances. A few people mentioned suffering from panic attacks as a result and fearing for their physical safety. One fan named Melanie helpfully compiled a thread of other incidents from the weekend if you want to check it out, but it's only a tiny fraction of what was happening out there.
To make matters worse, quite a few folks who initially spoke about what they were seeing at the GP deleted their commentary due to severe online bullying, and there are threads circulating on Twitter, popular F1 subreddits, and discords trying to discredit victims' stories.
To put it plainly: This behavior and the cycle that followed are vile and heinous — and unfortunately, incredibly common. It is partially the result of a global culture of violence towards anyone who’s not a straight cis white man as well as one fostered by F1 itself over many decades of toxic, unregulated fandom. (And the fact that the fervor over this behavior exploded at Red Bull’s home GP is a whole other story worthy of examination. But we’ll get to that further down...)
Of course, the Austrian Grand Prix was just one race. Harassment like this happens at every motorsports track and sporting event at large, regardless of discipline. But speaking more specifically to F1, Megan Varela Nunes provided several more examples of harassment and abuse that people faced at this race and others. Someone also said they attended the same event last year and noted that men were hurling phrases like, “There needs to be a dick in it” (rough translation) at women and girls walking by while children were present. Elsewhere, another F1 fan tweeted a thread on their negative experiences at Silverstone this year, and it's incredibly infuriating. We can honor and unpack all of those incidents while also not letting the Austrian GP, Red Bull, F1, and the FIA off of the hook here. It's a both/and situation.
The Immediate Aftermath
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We saw a flurry of activity soon after word got out on Friday and Saturday about what was transpiring. First, F1 released a statement on Sunday on its Twitter account that read, “We have been made aware of reports that some fans have been subject to completely unacceptable comments by others at the event. We have raised this with the promoter and security and will be speaking to those who have reported these incidents and are taking this very seriously. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated and all fans should be treated with respect.”
However, the organization hasn’t put up the statement or acknowledged the incidents on any other social channels to date, which gives me the impression that they saw this as a crisis PR containment exercise on a singular platform as opposed to a genuine effort to make it known that they were on top of it. (Also, if this is the best that F1 PR/comms folks can do on short notice, we need to have a chat about who’s calling the shots here…) Not to mention, while it's only been two days since the GP, we haven't seen a ton of follow-up or transparency about action steps going forward, though I've heard rumblings that certain circuits are talking about amping up security. (Many of those reports haven't been confirmed though, and as we'll talk about, this issue needs to be tackled institutionally, not just on a track-by-track basis.)
Soon after F1 posted about the incidents, several teams, including Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Alpine, tweeted simple statements of support and solidarity ahead of the race’s start. Once again though, many of these were largely relegated to solely Twitter, only to never be mentioned elsewhere or in any serious depth. (I'm looking at you, Alpine, after your whole "women in F1" initiative announcement from earlier this month...)
It's no surprise that Lewis Hamilton was the first — and at this point, only — driver to acknowledge what was happening on social media. “Disgusted and disappointed to hear that some fans are facing racist, homophobic, and generally abusive behaviour at the circuit this weekend,” he wrote on IG Stories, “Attending the Austrian Grand Prix or any GP should never be a source of anxiety and pain for fans and something must be done to ensure that races are safe spaces for all. Please, if you see this happening, report it to circuit security and to F1, we cannot sit back and allow this to continue.”
Right after the race, Merc team principal Toto Wolff was even more blunt in his assessment of the situation: “We just need to target these guys and pick them out. This is what Formula One has said and we have said and that you need to report to the security if you can. And whoever reads my sentence: stay away, we don’t want you if you are part of that group. Fuck off.” Race winner Charles Leclerc condemned the harassment and abuse shortly after his victory, as did Lewis’ activist pal Sebastian Vettel.
One small bright light in this mess: A few teams quietly took action on this front, but Aston Martin invited two fans who’d tweeted about the harassment they experienced to view the race from their garage. The team acknowledged that this was a small gesture and wouldn’t solve everything, but I appreciate them trying to make the most of an already bad situation. Unfortunately, the two women have been subjected to a massive harassment campaign since their time in the garage as numerous men are doing creepy sleuthing — I'm talking legit Charlie Day a la Always Sunny conspiracy boards — to try and discredit their claims. On top of being gross, I have a simple question: Who the fuck has the goddamn time? And in this economy?
How Other Fans Reacted
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It took about 0.5 seconds for women to mobilize over news of harassment across the circuit. Folks were DM’ing one another on Twitter and Instagram to watch the race together, and organizations like Grid Clique were finding ways to connect folks who maybe couldn’t find each other through other means. Jess McFadyen tweeted out a list of immediate stopgap measures to take, while Daniel “Spinz” Forrest (Lewis Hamilton’s right-hand guy) posted on Instagram Stories looking for suggestions on what to do and amplifying them.
Let me be clear: It is incredible (though wholly unsurprising to me as someone who has worked in these spaces for many years) how quickly so many women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ folks online and on the ground mobilized in order to keep themselves and other marginalized fans safe at the circuit. Those grassroots efforts are par for the course of being underrepresented in a larger space.
However, the fact that that even had to happen at all shows massive institutional failures on the part of F1 and the circuit’s leadership. These fans should’ve gotten to spend their days enjoying the race and taking in the scenery, not being harassed and then having to keep up with the discourse and take action on their phones. Quite frankly, the Austrian Grand Prix should be handing them their money back.
The Red Bull-Sized Elephant in the Room
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I've seen a lot of folks online skirting around the fact that this series of incidents took place at Red Bull Ring during a weekend branded as the home race of the RBR team and Max Verstappen, so let's talk about it.
By all accounts, at least 50,000-60,000 people in the 105,000-person crowd were Dutch fans, practically all of whom were there for Max. That doesn’t account for whatever percentage of the remaining crowd were also fans of Max or the Red Bull team, but it's generally a known fact that this race is RBR/Max territory.
So, what did Team Red Bull have to say about the awful reports? "These things shouldn't happen," Max said to press after the race about the reports of harassment. "I read a few shocking things. That's clearly not OK. I shouldn't even need to say this. There should be a general understanding that these things shouldn't happen." Ah, eloquent and specific as always. Max also reportedly pointed to limiting alcohol as a way to stop the abuse, but as we all know, people aren't racist, sexist, and homophobic only when they're under the influence.
"There is no place for it in racing or society as a whole," team boss Christian Horner tacked on. "We value inclusion and want a safe space for fans to enjoy our sport."
After the event, Red Bull’s F1 team tweeted the following: “Whilst we all enjoyed the passionate support of the majority of fans in Spielberg this weekend, we are shocked to hear that there have been incidents of completely unacceptable behavior in the grandstands and the fan parks. We hope that security and the authorities deal with this swiftly. There is no place in racing or society as a whole. We value inclusion and want a safe space for fans to enjoy our sport.”
Here's the problem with all of this, especially on the heels of RBR's Juri Vips about-face, its botched handling of Nelson Piquet's comments, and its host of other ongoing issues on this front: While obviously every team has some proverbial bad apples, I think this entire weekend encapsulated a big part of what Red Bull’s Formula 1 team values. An incredibly visible portion of its fan base covered a race track in noxious orange smoke even when asked not to, alienated fellow attendees through threats or acts of sexual and racial violence, and went as far as to set a Lewis Hamilton hat on fire. If these are the fans your team excitedly advertises as your most diehard, I've got questions. We're past the point of bad apples; this weekend yet again signals larger issues with RBR's culture.
What the Fuck Do We Even Do About This?
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So, we’ve listed out the problems, which is the easy part. What should the teams, F1 itself, and the FIA actually do about it?
Some immediate thoughts:
1. Let’s talk about practical shit, because that can be implemented quickest:
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One thing a few American sports fans have pointed out to me (which I wouldn’t know because you won’t catch me at baseball games…ever) is that some leagues have an emergency hotline number you can text or call to report a problem. I don’t think “tell security!” should be the only answer, nor does this solve every single thing. But a circuit can’t feign ignorance if there’s data to prove what transpired or if fans say they’ve taken a specific action to prevent further abuse.
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There need to be clear-cut folks working on de-escalation of potential situations on the ground. (And by that, I do not mean cops!) Speaking from my time at the Canadian Grand Prix, I actually don’t remember too much security once I was inside the circuit, specifically in and around my grandstand. The only people I visibly remember were folks checking our tickets to get into the right bleachers. Every GP is different, but I suspect that a lot of people are like me and don’t really remember much of a safety apparatus consistently spread throughout the circuit, especially one equipped to handle these sorts of cases.
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F1 has to be prepared to throw awful fans out via a zero-tolerance policy. The org needs to stop being so afraid of losing racist, sexist, and homophobic bigots. They will not serve the brand nor the sport in the long run. (And if F1 is only moved by economic arguments, think of it this way: It loses a few genuine fans for every asshole it lets stay in a seat and harass people. That math doesn't add up after a while.)
2. There's been talk online of F1 creating spaces specifically for folks attending races by themselves (especially women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ folks) to find respite in the midst of these types of events. It's an idea that requires a great deal of nuance and thought (two things that aren't always an organization like F1's strong suit), but I believe it should absolutely be explored.
3. There needs to be a separate task force at every circuit brought in by F1 that is solely responsible for preventing and reacting to identity-based harassment and assault. It can’t just be considered a responsibility of general security and crowd management, because that obviously hasn’t worked in the past and many underrepresented groups distrust enforcement entities (for good reason). It needs to come from F1 and the FIA and not be subject to individual circuits’ discretion.
4. F1, its teams, and its circuits need to hire people who aren’t just straight cis white guys. There’s no way around it: These (often white and male) fans feel like they can act this way because it's been reinforced time and time again that this sport and its subsequent spaces are Theirs™. Hiring just a single woman or person of color can’t completely alter that. It needs to be a serious commitment to change on all fronts — and fast. They need to normalize the idea that there are other faces around the paddock, grandstands, and sport, both in-person and online, who deserve respect.
And if the social, moral, and ethical arguments don’t swing F1, maybe the capitalist ones will: Fangirls (and I use that term loosely) are the greatest financial driving force of any cultural phenomenon, including sports. You ignore and alienate them at your own peril.
A Pep Talk
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Lastly, let me speak directly to the women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled folks, and others who are often the targets of this harassment: You have every fucking right to be here and take up space. Your opinions don’t just matter; they’re excellent and far more interesting, nuanced, and hilarious than what we see from these boring and unoriginal bigots who get the most play. They just don’t have the range.
Know that you will always have a place here with Engine Failure where your thoughts, feelings, experiences, memes, conspiracies, and driver thirst traps will be prioritized and centered. I have neither the time nor the patience for fuckery or anything else. This is the singular space I get to have complete control over; I get to proclaim that it’s for us.
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