The telephone of Svenja Tillemans, founder of the Formula 1 Women’s fan club, is red hot today. “This is so bad what is happening now,” she tells RTL Nieuws. “I just got a message from a mother who said that her daughter, in her early twenties, was pinched when she went to get a drink.” Angry, Tillemans adds: “Just keep your feet off women.”
‘Nice ass’
She herself was not at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg last weekend. But during previous race trips she also received the necessary comments: “You have a nice ass, I like to look at that.”
The racing enthusiast has not fallen for her mouth and parries such comments with ease: “I say: a bit of a waste of your money. Pay 400 euros for a ticket and go and look at my buttocks.”
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It is clear to her that sexist behavior in the Formula 1 world was not invented this weekend in the stands in Austria. She does want to emphasize: “Ninety percent of the people generally behave well at the races and make it a great party.”
Best race weekend
But the small group that makes a mess of it now ensures that the Dutch Max Verstappen fans worldwide do not get up too well. “We are now very badly in the news. And that is why we have to make it a very nice party in Zandvoort in September, for men and women.”
How should that be done? “No alcohol on the track, let’s start with that. You can’t drink on the track in Barcelona either. I’ve been there once, that was my best race weekend ever.”
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Bas van Bodegraven is a Formula 1 enthusiast in heart and soul. He even made it his job. He sells tickets for the Grand Prix in Austria, among others; tickets and camping. And he travels with his wife in a motor home from race to race and gets sponsored in the process. He is a kind of racing influencer, very active on social media.
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And yes, this weekend in Austria he saw women being sung to by drunken men on the track. “Some men are cocksuckers, especially when they drink. When a woman passes by, the ten of them sing: there must be a penis in it.” His verdict: “Disgusting.” But it was a small group, he also wants to emphasize.
Van Bodegraven saw the atmosphere in the stands change considerably since Max Verstappen’s breakthrough. “Max has raised a whole orange army. It is now much more a folk sport. Not only the real fans of motorsport now go to the grand prix, also the people who mainly want to party. Some buy a ticket and don’t even look at it. the race, but go have beer in the fan zone.”
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He continues: “The first song that was played there after the match was: Joost is different, a carnival song. And then drunk men also shout very loudly: gay!”
Draining
An atmosphere in which norms and values easily fade? At least with some men who are so drunk that, in the words of Max Verstappen, it is better to go home and wake up sober in the morning.
How do you approach the problem? Van Bodegraven also says: “I think that completely draining is the only thing that helps.”
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Behavioral psychologist Sabine Jansen sees some more possibilities. Increase the chance of being caught, for example: “It is a very large event where people feel fairly anonymous. It is not a culture in which people are quickly held accountable for their behavior. Many people also do not know where to report if they are being harassed. so we can set up a very clear reporting point to increase the chance of being caught if people misbehave.”
But why are they doing it anyway, those men? Is it just the alcohol? “In some groups there is a lot of pushing the boundaries, there is a culture of toughness. In order to feel connected to the group, men conform to the group norms. Then a kind of depersonalization sets in. They merge into the group and forget their own standards a little bit.”
And it should be clear: “That is enhanced by alcohol.”
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Formula 1 immediately sent out the above statement. Jansen thinks it is hopeful. “That this is immediately noticed and condemned is very good. The organization must also express itself clearly in this.”
She continues: “Authority figures who say that such behavior is not okay, that is very important to be able to change a culture. That is why it is very good that Max Verstappen has immediately spoken out in condemnation. And other drivers should do the same.”
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