"They don't share our values" - Red Bull's Sergio Perez proposes life ban for F1 fans with abusive behavior

Sergio Perez believes F1 should impose a life-time ban on fans who display abusive behavior at F1 venues. The Mexican feels fans displaying disrespectful behavior towards other spectators at the track does not represent the values of the sport and is an embarrassment.

When asked what F1 could do to curb abusive fan behavior in the drivers' press conference ahead of the French GP, the Red Bull driver replied:

“I think it’s very important we don’t generalise because it’s very rare from our fans that follow our sport to hear something like that. So we definitely should, hopefully, ban them for life. Don’t welcome them again, because they don’t represent who we are as a sport, and they don’t share our values at all so…but at the same time we have great fans out there and with great values and I think a few fans shouldn’t be able to even embarrass our sport like that.”

Following fan complaints about discriminatory and abusive behavior by fellow fans at the Austrian GP, the sport and drivers have condemned such behavior and are contemplating serious action in the future.

Sergio Perez suggested that abusive fans should face a life-time ban at F1 venues as they do not represent the values of the sport. His teammate and reigning champion Max Verstappen was unimpressed by the behavior of such fans and condemned the incidents that took place at the Red Bull Ring.

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Sergio Perez believes abusive fans do not belong at an F1 venue

Upon being asked by Sportskeeda if the negativity in the F1 fan-base needed driver intervention, the Mexican responded that it was important. Condemning the toxic behavior of fans on social media and in the sport, Sergio Perez believes such abusive fans do not belong in the sport and agreed that more could be done to curb such behavior. Lewis Hamilton felt that he was already doing all that he could to condemn fan behavior, but that the media needed to do its part too.

Answering Sportskeeda’s question in the press conference, Sergio Perez responded:

“I think certainly it's important. We all do our bit: drivers, teams, media, fans – there are a lot of good fans in Formula 1. Those that… they don’t represent us as a sport, they don't share our values and they're not welcome here. As simple as that. So I do agree that we all can do more.”

The F1 fan-base was polarized after the 2021 season and after the dramatization of the sport by Netflix's Drive to Survive series. The dramatization of the sport has drawn a new fan-base which could be reactive in its opinions both on social media and trackside. However, many fans, especially the sport's female fans, have come out after the horrendous incidents that took place in Austria, saying that the event was far from a one-off and that they have suffered harassment of various kinds at numerous events over the years.

Hopefully, F1 will take decisive action to deter such despicable behavior in the future and make sure the sport's fans feel safe at events.