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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has termed the boos from fans directed at him and Max Verstappen during the F1 75 car launch event as disappointing. For the 2025 season, the FOM had organized an event in London where all teams would launch their respective cars and liveries.
During the event, every team would have their team bosses and the respective drivers come to the stage in a seven-minute segment where the car would be presented followed by a small Q&A session. When Red Bull's Horner came to the stage, however, he was subject to boos that further intensified when Verstappen joined him.
Talking about the event, Christian Horner was complimentary of the work that had been put together but pointed out that the boos to Max Verstappen were a bit disappointing. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, during the first F1 Pre-season test, the Red Bull boss said:
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“I guess the only disappointment I had with it was that 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."
He added:
“The fans, of course, are the DNA of the sport. 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 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. So, we're delighted to race in such a big audience and you're going to get different reactions depending on where you race in the world, and that's the same in any elite sport.”
Christian Horner on the FIA backing him and Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen and Christian Horner received the backing of the FIA after the event. The governing body released a statement calling out the tribalistic nature of fans and called for respect of different people that have achieved a lot in the sport. Addressing the statement, Horner claimed that Red Bull had not complained or said anything of that note to the governing body. He said:
"For the FIA support, look, they've made their own comments on it. It was nothing that we certainly asked for, I certainly didn't have any conversation with the FIA following the event. It was obviously part of their campaign to stamp out online abuse.”
Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen had, however, came out and claimed that the 4x F1 champion would not be taking part in any of the promotional events that take place in Britain. It will be interesting to see if the Red Bull driver does address the boos in front of the media during the pre-season test.
