Horner surprised: 'People were cheering when Max went in the ambulance'

Christian Horner has noticed a new trend in Formula 1. The Red Bull Racing team boss says some of the new spectators are behaving differently to seasoned motorsport fans, he told the Associated Press.

Last season was the first time this was really expressed when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled each other for the world title. While the British fans in the stands showed they were not fans of Verstappen, the Dutch spectators did the opposite to Hamilton.

At Silverstone Verstappen and Hamilton collided and the first driver even had to go to hospital. "People were cheering when Max went in the ambulance at Silverstone last year. Sport is polarizing in many respects," Horner reflected.

Horner sees outspoken group of fans

Horner stresses that it is not a bad thing that Formula 1 is attracting new fans, but believes it is important to point out that they do need to know the limits. The Briton therefore hopes that a change can be seen soon.

"It’s not been prevalent in motor racing previously, but there’s a new fan base that are coming in and they are pretty vocal about the drivers and teams they support, and (those) that they don’t. People are free to express themselves, but what can’t be in any way accepted is any form of abuse."