Men have dominated the motorsport industry in every aspect since its creation. Formula One fans have been victims of judgment and harassment often based on their sex. It has been a constant problem the sport has encountered throughout its history but recently the assaults escalated from physical to online harassment.

Jocelyn Garcia Vega

Formula One had a rise in popularity since the release of the Netflix Series ‘Drive To Survive’ that premiered in 2019 according to resources.audiense.com. This series has opened an opportunity for thousands of fans to discover and connect with the sport. A fraction of them, particularly on the younger side, have expressed their passion through social media such as Tiktok and Instagram according to transcontinentaltimes.com.

Most of those in charge of such accounts happen to be women as reported by alongtheracingline.com. Due to the negative view on women in the sport, fans have also been a target of similar hatred.

In an interview I had with TikTok creator Caitlin, also known as Cait, who runs an account by the name of @dannyriccsbisch, we discussed the troubles and stereotyping that fans have gone through.

Cait explains “12 or 13 year olds girls kinda just make videos about something that was exciting or maybe they messed something up like they misspelled Daniel Ricciardo’s name wrong or you know get a stats wrongs but all of a sudden there is all this hate being put on to them by middle aged men and I just think that is horrible and that breaks my heart.”

Even in big teams, the stereotyping is no different. The team principal of Red Bull, Christian Horner commented on the Netflix series with talkSPORT stating “It’s bringing in a lot of young girls because of all these great-looking young drivers.”

Many fans became enraged by his comment. As someone who is a leader of one of the top three teams, sharing negative stereotypes on their own young fans is unforgivable. Cait shares her view on his comment “I think the Christians Horner’s comment speaks to systemic issues within F1 about the way that women are treated and I think he has this subconscious view of women.”

It is no secret that the views of anything can increase when someone young is being heavily promoted. But in this sport, the drivers are not advertised for their looks as much as their skill in the races. They go in their assigned cars, wearing full body fire proof suits and their helmets. As a matter of fact, this type of mentality does not consider the possibility that fans connect with someone who is closer to their age.

Cait elaborates “Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and younger drivers interact differently with fans and interact on platforms that we find easier to interact with. So naturally, younger drivers are going to attract younger fans no matter how good looking they are because we find it easy to relate to people and it's a natural human thing.”

The sad truth to this problem is that it is not only an occurrence that online fans have to encounter, but fans have been physically and sexually assaulted when attending races. An incident was brought to the light during the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2022.

According to the website RaceFans.net, “one female fan reported on social media that a group of men lifted her skirt telling her she didn’t deserve respect because she was a Lewis Hamilton fan.”

This incident along with others were reported to those in charge, the FIA, the Federation Internationale de I’Autobmobile. The executives along with the teams created a campaign, “Drive it out,” that tried to bring awareness and support to the victims of such incidents. Although they did address the issue rather quickly, fans noticed that the message and spread of the campaign was extremely minimal in comparison to others.

It is never easy fixing systematic problems but we know where to start. Encouraging and promoting more women in the workplace is an essential first step. Lewis Hamilton, a seven time World Champion once stated in the article by Motorsport.com “We need to be doing more to encourage young women… If there are any women, they're more in the background. We need to bring them more to the forefront, so young girls that are watching know that it's possible for them to be here.”

Lewis Hamilton isn’t the only World champion to share his support, Sebastian Vettle a four time World Champion said in a Attitude Magazine interview “ I think anybody is welcomed, if you're fast enough, quick enough doesn't matter whether you are a women, a man, whether your gay, any member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

It is amazing having men in big positions expressing their concerns and supporting women and minorities but there is only so much they can do when the system refuses to change. Within the recent months the FIA has condemned drivers from expressing their political stances during the race weekend. This has infuriated the drivers such as Valteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris among others who refuse to be silenced.

Cait added “It was just disgraceful that the whole ban on political statements, it's horrible. Its human rights are being taken away.” The FIA needs to accept that there’s more issues coming to light that drivers among others feel the duty and necessity to show their support.

Formula One is a sport that has crossed multiple borders, their teams coming together from different countries to share their common passion for the sport. Their fans should follow in their footsteps and accept each other regardless of knowledge, gender or sexual orientation.

Exactly how Cait explains “ Being hated and sexually and physically assaulted for liking a sport, and at the end of the day that person is wanting the same thing as you. They are wanting to enjoy the day, watch some race cars. They are not hurting you, their love of the sport is not a reflection of yours. You don't have to love it in the same way but at the end of the day you love those 20 cars the same amount as the person sitting next to you. So what's the problem?”

Formula one: The motorsport where only men’s opinions matter