Does anyone remember any other drivers getting boo'd?

[sknguy]

In professional sports in North American its relatively common for fans to boo the introductions of the opposing teams. And to boo them during the game too. It's a part of that "home field" advantage. But then again, I can't say that I've ever seen any booing at the end of s loss either.

[bhall]

I really wish I lived in your world, WB. It must be nice to dwell in a mystical land of pixies and fairy dust where everyone plays fair, no one gets hurt, the specialized press is always accurate (even if it occasionally defies the laws of nature), and everyone agrees with you.

Unfortunately, I live in "the real world," and people in "the real world" have a peculiar habit of expressing themselves freely, even if it sometimes goes against the grain of conventional wisdom or etiquette. We're not androids who toe a given line because it's what we're supposed to do. We're free.

So, in the spirit of that freedom, my response to your post is this: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[andartop]

While I don't think F1 can or should do something about this - it is their right to express themselves at the end of the day and they do pay for a ticket - I just cannot understand it. Whenever I see this select bunch of 20-30 year olds driving these cars the way they do, risking their lives to entertain us every other weekend, I want to cheer for every single one of them. Maybe the ones booing are not real F1 fans, just fanboys. But even from a fanboy's point of view, watching Vettel win again and again so comfortably makes me want to boo my favorite team Ferrari for getting it wrong, not Vettel or RBR for getting it right!

[Mandrake]

It's just people eager to jump on pointless bandwagons...maybe they think it's cool or something to be a part of this

Agreed about the Schumacher era but remember back then,internet trolling wasn't such a big deal

We've had this discussion in the live chat after the race yesterday as well. My take is that we have had a shift in the Formula 1 Fan Culture. In the past, the outcry after Austria when Barrichello had to let Michael through was hearable, but not such a big deal was made out of it. Today, with the help of social media, the media themselves and in general people with less respect towards others everything escalates much quicker. I don't like that development.

Even in Germany where you'd think that VET has a lot of supporters, people take over oppinions they hear or read and talk VET down. Most comments in that direction are full of envy. I mean, that boy is only 26 years old, same as me, and yet has achieved so much more success than I could ever dream of. But I still see no need for accusing him of anything.....

[Stradivarius]

It strikes me that some of the arguments presented here wouldn't fit very well if they were applied to other sports, like snooker or golf, or even tennis. Or, to make my point even clearer, try going to an opera and start booing if you get bored or there is something you don't like, and see how much sympathy you will get by refering to your freedom of speech, or showing your ticket that you have paid for. Some types of behaviour is simply unacceptable in given situations.

The issue here is not only the booing, but the context in which it takes place. Unlike football/soccer, where the fans are always loud and rude, there is no tradition of booing like this in formula 1. And that is why it is very insulting to the victim. If someone tried something like this at a snooker event, they would be thrown out immediately. Same thing in golf or tennis. At least I would expect that, but I can't know for sure, because I have never seen it happen. The difference there is of course that the audience is kept in strict discipline during the competition itself as well. So it's natural to continued being well behaved afterwards as well. I don't know if there is anything one can do about this in f1. Maybe it's a trend that is going to grow. People seem to do more as they please nowadays than before, it's a general attitude with both positive and negative sides.

[iotar__]

Yes, opera, what an great comparison.

I was watching opera, you know sport opera with a direct competition between soloists, and one fat broad pushed the other one off the stage. Three times. Firstly she pretended it didn't happen and blamed the other for clumsily tripping, then admitted she did it but only because of her competitive nature. Then director came on stage and said they prefer the one pushing people off anyway and she sings better as long as the other one has a gag in her mouth so you can't really blame her. Although they agreed that pushing in not OK, it doesn't matter now. Then - I kid you not - people started booing them! Uncultured swine.

[to be clear, I'm not really commenting on booing itself but on on silly comparisons]

[oT v1]

They pay a ton to be there, let them express themselves. I personally think people love to hate him but he will be sorely missed and celebrated after he quits (or moves team). Rossi was facing the same in MotoGP, "it's just the bike, not him", as soon as he started winning on the M1 from the RC211V everyone just loved him

[xpensive]

Does anyone remember any other drivers getting boo'd?

No, but I remember the Nigel Mansell fans at Siverstone in 1991, wearing Union Jack shorts and sporting banners with "F*ck Senna"

[aral]

Nothing different to the British "fans" cheering when Schumi went off and broke his leg. Or the same "fans" cheering when Vettels engine stopped at Silverstone.

[timbo]

It's interesting that it happened in Singapore. I get how it happened in Italy (while I don't like that behavior it is understandable, cosidering the venue), but I'm surprised it happened in Singapore.

[beelsebob]

I don't much like Vettel winning all the time either.

But boo'ing doesn't seem appropiate.

The guy seems like a nice fella.

Yes, Hamilton was booed on the Podium in Monza last year.

[SectorOne]

I think it´s about the fact that people thought they knew where they had him, after Malaysia a totally new Vettel emerged in that sense.
Said one thing on that day, next day say he would do it all over again etc.

He won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 even but i´ve never heard this many boos since after Malaysia. And it´s not just one country, it doesn´t matter where on the planet they are, they "all" seem to feel the same about that particular incident.

I can think back now knowing the point deficit he has and the only thing that comes to mind is how he denied Webber one last win in his career.

[CHT]

Who are the people who behind the booing?
Are they fans from a particular team?

Ferrari has a strong fan base in Singapore and I saw Alonso ginning from left to right.
I suspect its from these group.

[Stradivarius]

[to be clear, I'm not really commenting on booing itself but on on silly comparisons]

Ouch, was I really that unclear? Let me clarify for you then: When you are presented a comparison, you will never find that absolutely everything is identical, unless something is compared by itself (in which case it can hardly be called a comparison). So when interpreting a comparison, you need to look for the similarities and not for the differences, if you struggle to make sense of it.

In this case, I can give you one hint that might help you understand the comparison: Both formula 1 and opera normally requires the audience to pay for their tickets. The purpose of this comparison is not to argue that formula 1 and opera is almost the same thing. The purpose is to make it clear that paying for the ticket to an event, doesn't necessarily mean that you are entitled to behave exactly the way you feel like at all times. Here I was refering to booing, in case that wasn't clear to you.

[tim|away]

As Mandrake already pointed out, we talked about this in the chat after the race.

I can appreciate that there has always been boo'ing against other drivers in the past, but it still feels as if the recent boo'ing has taken it a bit further than what we've seen before. I personally am not even convinced this is has to do with the Malaysia incident, but rather with the fact that Vettel keeps winning year after year. I assume there are a lot of people who would suggest F1 would be more exciting and entertaining without the combination of Vettel in a Redbull. It almost certainly would be more entertaining without one guy who keeps winning, but can you blame him or Redbull for that?

Another somewhat related question evolved from the conversation we had on the chat: What makes a driver popular/unpopular in the first place? It's a lot easier to sympathise with the guy who just lost out on the WDC than with the guy who won it - especially if this happens over several consecutive years. One might have made a huge emotional investment for driver x who should have won the WDC if he only had the right car and it might feel unfair that Vettel hasn't had that struggle in his career yet. From a neutral point of view though, it's not Vettel's fault nor is it Redbull's fault. I can understand the frustration some people have, but the fact is Redbull has done a better job than the other teams and Vettel is in the right place AND extracts the maximum out of the car (unlike Webber). It's a tough pill to swallow for some people - especially when Vettel emerges as the clear favourite before the race has even started.