“Booing is part of sports”: NASCAR Insider condemns FIA’s recent ‘absurd’ ruling involving Max Verstappen

NASCAR insider for The Atletic, Jeff Gluck chimed in on the FIA's recent attempt to penalize foul language from their drivers, booing from crowds, and online bullying towards F1 racers, teams, or officials.

This was, in part, triggered by the unfriendly welcome of the Red Bull Team by fans, especially towards four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen and team principal Christian Horner in the F1 75 event this Tuesday, February 16. The event, held at London's O2 Arena, was intended as a launch for the season, in which each team had seven minutes to unveil their new designs.

While Horner took those boos with a smile and went on with the presentation, Verstappen seemed slightly more upset. This is because the presenter for the evening, British comedian, Jack Whitehall made the public laugh at his expense.

After FIA criticized the fans' booing at the F1 75 event, Jeff Gluck shared his thoughts with a post on his X (formerly Twitter).

"The FIA trying to link booing to online abuse is absurd. Booing is part of sports and is way different than toxic social media posts. No swearing on the radios, condemning booing...how soft can you be?, " NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck wrote.

Another big name who also addressed the swearing regulation for drivers was international chef and celebrity, Gordon Ramsey. When asked his opinion on the matter, the owner of the Savoy Grill restaurant in London said:

"Swearing is all part of the industry (and if a driver swears) no one should give a SH*T."

Regardless, the FIA secured €400K funding from Erasmus+ (the EU's program to support sports education) to combat online abuse towards sports celebrities, coaches, officials, and personnel.

---

NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin thrived under booing

Back in 2021, Joe Gibbs Racing's #11 racing driver was received with heavy booing from the crowd after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. This is because he and Alex Bowman engaged in an incident that led Denny Hamlin to finish P24 and Bowman eventually won the race. But what really infuriated fans was that the Tampa native flipped off the winner while still inside the Next-Gen car, and called him a hack during the pit road interview.

Hamlin took the booing and turned it into motivation, and in the following week, before the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, he said to USA Today:

"My life is chaos, and I thrive under chaos. Rather be booed than ignored. The moment you’re ignored, it’s bad news. You’re on your way out. … It’s just fuel for me. My tank is absolutely full with motivation."

Denny Hamlin managed to finish third in that race and also third at that year's NASCAR Cup Series.