Appalling spectator behaviour

[R]

Now - it was a great race, but there was one aspect which I found to be very negative. I'm sure all of you saw how some of the spectators cheered wildly when Kimi Raikkonen went off. It was quite a dramatic off - this was especially visible when we saw the accident through the onboard camera. Yet some of the spectators in the stadium were celebrating the off wildly even before Kimi's car had come to a rest. I found this behaviour extremely appalling - they could at least have waited until they saw the guy walk away unhurt before cheering over the fact that he was out of the race.

If Kimi had been seriously hurt, spectators cheering over his departure from the race would have been extremely bad publicity for F1.

[Kicking-back]

There's no accounting for mindless idiots, but I'm confident it was very much a minority.

[R]

It was a minority, but still a very disturbing sight to see.

[Adam43]

I thought it a shame too. We see it everywhere, including here on ten-tenths - more pleasure at another's misfortune than at their own cause for celebration. Appropriately the German's have a word for it, Schadenfreude. A truly repugnant emotion.

[Kicking-back]

My problem wasn't so much with pleasure at another's misfortune.

They can celebrate their idol's closest challenger being out of the race, fair enough.

But to cheer before they knew he was going to be okay was disgusting.

[marcus]

I think it was more a case of them knowing that no one would be able to challenge Michael after Kimi crashed.

you have to remember it was germany , there was loads of Atmosphere and im sure the curcuit commentators were revving the fans up in Michaels favour.

its quite easy to get caught up in that emotion and Cheer when your hero's challenger falls out of the race.

having said that , it didnt look that great on TV but I really think they were Cheering at Michaels chaces and not kimi's demise (but I could be wrong)

[Kicking-back]

It would have shown a bit more humanity if they had waited till they knew he was unhurt before cheering his demise.

[Teretonga]

With safety so lauded these days the assumption is everyone is going to be okay before the accident is even over.
Western society in general lives with the idea that we can eliminate all risk from our lives. It's only when a tragedy strikes ones family and friends that reality strikes home and people realise what an absurd idea this is.
The mindlessness of a few spectators in Germany is indicative of how 'advanced' our culture really is.

[SKT]

Aptly said teretonga.

[bacon sandwich]

It's not good - but having said that - I do remeber quite a bit of cheering at Silverstone 1999 - until they realised he was actually hurt!

[Wrex]

I agree R, it was appalling.

I can only assume people were getting caught up in it, but disgusting just the same. That was a scary crash, and I always hold my breath until I see the driver moving.

TBH, Trulli's crash is still the one that sends a chill down my spine.

[JAG]

Surely we do not want F1 to gain an 'armchair' fanbase that is only concerned about their favourite driver/team winning, with no interest in other areas of the sport, as they have in NASCAR these days.

Personally I appreciate all of the competitors and would prefer to see a great race, rather than see my 'hero' drive off into the distance totally unchallenged.

[jetsetter]

I was quite disgusted at the crowds reaction when Kimi went off as it was obviously a big accident & could've easily led to Kimi suffering an injury.

[enemy-ace]

Originally posted by Teretonga
With safety so lauded these days the assumption is everyone is going to be okay before the accident is even over.

Personally after having watched the fatal accidents of Senna and Greg Moore (CART) those are assumptions I don't make. It was sad to see the reaction of those fans!

[jetsetter]

Originally posted by enemy-ace
Personally after having watched the fatal accidents of Senna and Greg Moore (CART) those are assumptions I don't make. It was sad to see the reaction of those fans!

Having seen my share of fatal accidents in motorsport i'm fully in agreeance with enemy-ace on this point, after a driver has an accident i can never rest easy until he is out of the car & okay.

[DKGandBH]

I have to admit that when it started to happen I went "yeah", but when it was obvious that he was going to hit a wall fast, it turned to "****".

The initial reactions are just that, reactions, where little or no thought has been applied.

David

[SetikX]

^that type of attitude is appalling. Schumacher has won every race this season excluding one and yet you are PLEASED when a competitor (who has the ability AND speed to take it to schumacher) retires from the race.

Im sorry, but your no fan of formula 1. Go sit with the other ferrari cap wearing fans who hardly even know ferrari have 2 drivers.

P.S - I respect Michael Schumacher, he is an ultimate wealth of talent for formula one. I RESPECT fans of f1 who are also keen supporters of michael, I even am pleased michael is doing so well, I do NOT support blind idiots who want ferrari to trump every race with no competition just so they can wake up to the news the next days to "yet another Schumacher win".

I am sure we all agree that the speed the mac's are showing at the moment is very promising for 2005.

*so very very annoyed.

[DKGandBH]

Actually, I am not a Ferrari fan...
I admire M.Schumacher's ability, and realise that he is far and away the best driver out there...as you seem to do...
I just don't like McLaren (and particularly Kimi).

I tend to watch the race from second down as that is where the action is. I also like it when Schumacher is pressed.

I will be more than happy if Webber can "take it to him" in a Williams (or Renault) next year.

David.

[GVROK]

Anyone who has been to the Olympics realises that modern world sport is about nationalism. In 1983 Italians applauded when Patrese (an Italian in a brabham) hit the wall to put Tambay in a Ferrari (no.27) in the lead. This prompted James Hunt to say "this proves that Italians prefer cars to people" - I watched todays race on US TV and David Hobbs pointed to the "classless spectators applauding" It happens, but the English are not as bad as the others........yet.

[ljakse]

Only word that comes to mind - disgusting.
As some of you allready sad, if they waited to see if he is OK, that would be just fine, but this way...

[SetikX]

I think Kimi would have matched the pase Schumacher was running in the second half of the race; however, I am well aware that Schumacher wasnt pressed and would have pulled out something special.

Kimi was robbed, and so was the fans.

I dont understand how anyone could- out of a pack of drivers as large as f1 holds, kimi would be disliked so strongly that they would rather him have an "off" then see someone battling schumacher.

I dont particularly like Ralf, but I delight in seeing racing.

It disgusts me when people like DKGandBH put their own oppinions of drivers ahead of a willingness to admire racing.

[jbisminesothere]

Unfortunately i was not able to see the race yesturday, but from what i have read i think that it is disgraceful that people did not make sure Kimi was ok, before expressing their joy. However im sorry but i although i respect SetikX's views i personally disagree. If we look at this from another situation and it was close in the WDC and MS is in front and Kimi is following, then obviously people are going to be happy if Kimi's misfortune leads to MS's victory if they suport MS, just like if they are supporting Kimi and MS did not finish they would be happy. Althought this does not make their cheering right (and they should have waited until they knew that Kimi was ok), if they were not liking the sport they wouldnt be watching and they wouldnt be showing their emotions on the drivers success or failure.

[ASCII Man]

Yep, but that's a totally different situation.
It's still disgusting!

[Schummy]

Not very relevant but seeing again the (taped) scene, I can see as there were (naturally) a lot of red dressed fans, but the mnost prominent one was with a blue and yellow flag, i.e. an Alonso or Trulli "supporter" (or hooligan, we could say).

So, I think is not fair to put too accent in german spectators. Sadly, when an "idol" emerges, unreasonable people appears (not only in F1 , not only in sports). We still remember the attitude of many Mansell's supporters, and so we could go on with many worldwide examples.

In the last years, when an important driver has appeared in F1, we have seen in forums many people from the respective country talking unreasonably about that driver/other drivers.

Motorsport true fans never behaves like that... or at least it's the theory.

[1200Datto27]

I just watched the tape again, and I noticed two things about these spectators;

1, They where Renault supporters (wearing yellow and blue)

2, The reactions that I saw where just like those of spectators at a football match, just before somethings is about to happen, Yes they got to their feet, and raised there arms up, but once they saw how hard KR hit, they did not continue to applaud (of course, I may be seeing some different footage to the rest of you) after the incident.