26/02/2025
NEWS STORY
Christian Horner has blamed the sport's changing fan-base for the reaction to his team at the recent launch event in London.
When introduced to the crowd, Horner was roundly booed as was Max Verstappen, many believing that the mainly British crowd's hostility was in reaction to the Dutchman's battles with Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell in recent years.
While Horner isn't particularly bothered at being seen as the 'pantomime villain' of F1, he feels his driver is deserving of more respect, while FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem has described the crowd as "tribalist".
"It was a big event," said the Briton. "Obviously all the teams put a lot effort into it, which was interesting to see.
"Now of course, launching your car is a bit like launching your away strip in a home fans' stadium," he continued. "Fans will always back the teams and drivers that they want to. Of course, we've been the protagonists over the years.
"I guess the only disappointment I had with it was that the reception to Max," he admitted, "as a four-time world champion, that was disappointing. But passion in sport is always going to be there. If the launch had been in Holland, no doubt the reception would have been somewhat different.
"Fans are the DNA of the sport," said Horner. "I think the fandom has changed obviously over the last few years as we've been welcoming more and more diverse fans to the sport. Sport is polarising, and competitive sport across any premier sport in the world.
"Fans are passionate, and they support their drivers, predominantly they support their teams. And you can't dictate that. We're delighted to race in such a big audience. You're going to get different reactions depending where you race in the world. That's the same in any elite sport."