Perez fan handed a lifetime ban from races for attacking Ferrari fans
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Images have surfaced of a Mexican fan of Sergio Perez attacking two Ferrari supporters in the stands of the Mexico Grand Prix after his favourite driver had to retire from the race after a collision with Charles Leclerc. The images went around on social media and shocked the F1 world. Formula 1 now announces that it has cracked down on this unacceptable misconduct.
Footage showed a male fan climbing towards a couple wearing Ferrari merchandise, while other spectators tried to get between them. The fan then punched both Ferrari supporters, with one falling to the ground and one trying to fight back. Bystanders eventually manage to neutralise the attacker.
Formula 1 intervenes
The Formula 1 organisation informs that they were handed over to security and taken from the stands. The man has since been told that he will not be allowed access to Grands Prix for the rest of his life. As far as we know, this was the only incident of violence in the stands of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. However, there was also the booing of Leclerc when the Monegasque appeared on the podium afterwards. Apparently, Mexican fans blamed the Ferrari driver for their hero's failure.
The organisers of the Mexican Grand Prix had mounted a campaign prior to the race, with the aim of creating respect towards drivers and their teams. After all, there were fears that Max Verstappen would be received in a not-so-pleasant manner. In reality, Verstappen actually received a lot of applause after his dominant win on Mexican soil.