Formula 1 is a spectacle which millions of people around the world watch. It is the definition of class and style. The cars have sleek lines and there are sponsors of the ilk of Rolex as well as Moet and Chandon. The rich and famous turn out in droves and are often guests of teams thoughout the weekend.

However, there are some occasions where the image of Formula 1 becomes tarnished and this happened in the hills of Austria. Things were so bad that the British broadcasters talked about the behaviour of some of the patrons, citing racism and other unruly behaviour.

Unfortunately for F1, and reportedly some of the male Dutch fans, the behaviour was so much worse than that. A female Dutch reporter went to the event as a patron. According to her article that she felt compelled to write, she felt devastated by the actions of her fellow countrymen. For the full detail of what she, and other female atendees, please find the link here.

Formula 1 drivers respond to the poor crowd conduct.

Current world champion, Dutchman Max Verstappen responded in the Dutch media. According to my Dutch source, she does not believe that it went far enough. The fact that he says that if you drink too much you should go to bed really does not cut it,

The response of Sebastian Vettel is so much more to the point and how a public figure should respond to this sort of behaviour.

Sebastian Vettel thinks F1 should introduce life bans for abusive fans following the harassment that has been reported at Red Bull Ring this weekend.

Do you agree with him? 💬#F1 #AustrianGP #Motorsport pic.twitter.com/uzUd0bXzpQ

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) July 10, 2022

The former world champion is of the opinion that the fans should be banned for life from all racing. This would certainly send a message. The message? Their putrid conduct should is not welcome, anywhere. Even better, that they should never act that way again in public

In a weekend where the discussion should have been dominated by track limits violations. Instead we are talking about the behaviour of an element of the crowd who spoiled the experience for others.In fact, their behaviour was so poor that there will be an element of the public who will never go back due to feeling unsafe.

This is not acceptible in any way and event organsers need to ensure that this never happens again. Everybody who attends a major worldwide event needs to be able to do so unmolested. They should be able to go about their daily life unmolested as well. However, that is a whole larger discussion to have. We need to be better than this, alcool is not an excuse.