Outside Line: Ban Mexico Boo Brigade & Hooligans for life

I could call them a whole lot worse. How dare anyone who claims to be a Formula 1 fan boo a driver who just delivered one of the greatest drives of his life? Perhaps the best and most important of this incredible season. On Sunday in Mexico, Lando Norris obliterated the field by half a minute, and what a field it was.

He made mincemeat of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, destroyed them all this past weekend in Mexico. His Qualifying lap was out of this world.

The kid owned that race from start to finish, a lights-to-flag masterpiece, and still got booed! His best race, his biggest effort, maybe the performance that swings the 2025 F1 title his way - and instead of respect, Norris got jeered. Disgraceful. I hang my head in shame and embarrassment for Lando. Sorry Bro!

The boo brigade are not fans. They are not racing people. Just merch-wearing wannabes who buy overpriced team cr@p to feel entitled, take a billion BS selfies, and pretend they know the sport because they are there. They go home to post on social media about how “amazing” it was to be at the GP, but they have no idea what they’re watching.

All of us who love Formula 1 have racing pumping through our blood. Not one of those clowns who booed Norris on Sunday is a racing person. They’re scumbags. Eject them from our sport.

Do they damage Formula 1? No. But they are an ugly stain on its soul, just like hooliganism was when it nearly killed English football in the seventies and eighties. We cannot accept this option ever, but nothing has been done by officials more paranoid about drivers dropping occasional expletives than weeding out the true cancer.

What have the FIA and F1 done since Verstappen got mercilessly booed for a long period of time? The F1 75 event in London was a horror show. How can the newly crowned F1 Drivers' Champion be booed? Ditto when Hamilton too, was stalked by the boo brigade; it’s the same type of rot that has not been dealt with. Here it is again? What are they going to do?

The FIA is big on online bullying, and rightfully so. But what about the offline craziness happening at the foot of a podium where VIPs love to pose, like this weekend? Are they going to ignore the Boo Brigade? I hope not. Ban them, name them, shame them like they shamed Formula 1 on Sunday.

Now, even more sinister is another bunch that needs to be named, shamed and banned from F1 for life: the damned hooligans are back. The viral clips from the grandstands made my stomach turn. A young guy swinging at an old man. Others are piling in. Boots flying. People are filming instead of helping. What is wrong with humans?

It's a Formula 1 race, not a cage fight. But no, these so-called fans turned it into a circus of violence. $100 T-shirts, $1000 tickets and not a shred of class. One guy’s on the ground and another runs over and kicks him while others cheer and film! It’s disgusting.

It’s not Formula 1, it's not sport. It’s the collapse of basic manners in an increasingly putrid world, dressed in F1 team colours. Values and decency have been pulverised by greed and outright scumbagness. This planet is seems 'barbaric' than ever before to me.

Humanity is driven by the sick quest for viral videos and clicks. Everything’s about being seen, being filmed, being online. That’s the cancer rotting society from the inside, the endless need for self-attention. The world’s gone to sh!t because everyone wants to star in their own movie instead of living life like decent human beings.

But I digress...

Just being at a Grand Prix, no matter the outrageous costs of attending live, for me, the privilege of the experience demands respect and decent behaviour. Dignity.

This is Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Steeped in history, local hero Ricardo Rodriguez died here. These are our Temples of Speed. Where we pay homage to the great ones of the past and present. Are there punch-ups in churches these days?.

So yes, be damned the boo brigade, and may hooligans wipe each other out. They don’t belong in Formula 1. They don’t belong anywhere near racing or sport. They are the cancer of our time.

Go home. Stay home. Leave Formula 1 to real aficionados.

To Lando Norris, all one can say is: "What a great race weekend you had in Mexico. You Verstappen-ed Max and all the rest of the losers that day. Go win the F1 2025 title, to give the boo brigade the butt hurt they deserve."

To FIA and Formula 1, wake up, focus on real issues that give our sport a bad look, and root this rot out. There is plenty of CCTV footage, open a police case, identify all the culprits and ban them for life. Even if it's a few (which I hope for our sport, it is), name and shame them. Set an example, or it will get worse and worse!