F1 News: Police Wash Their Hands Of Sexual Assault At Austrian GP – “There were no major incidents.”
After a number of incidents were reported at the Austrian GP including homophobia, sexual assault, and racism, it’s been revealed that the police don’t know anything about these reports.
A number of drivers, teams, and even F1 itself has released statements deeming the behaviour as unacceptable after a handful of Dutch fans were seen taunting women, burning merchandise, and generally being disgusting.
One female attendee, Nienke, told the German newspaper Bild that “several men groped my butt in the fan zone”.
Sebastian Vettel told the press that he things those involved in this should be “banned from racing events for life” after meeting two victims of the awful behaviour after the race. “I think there should be zero tolerance,” he continued.
Dutch GP boss Jan Lammers added that such behaviour won’t be tolerated at Zandvoort which we’ll see on the F1 calendar during September.
“It’s terrible, it’s antisocial, it’s immoral,” the ex-F1 driver told NOS.
Despite this, the local Austrian police spokesperson Christoph Grill has admitted that he hasn’t heard of any “major incidents”.
“With over 300,000 visitors, it was surprisingly quiet,” he told the press. “There were no major incidents.”
Kronen Zeitung newspaper added that security at the Red Bull Ring track is handled by private firms and is not the police’s responsibility.
“We cannot be held responsible for the behaviour of all visitors,” said Erich Wolf, Red Bull Ring chief.
“But it’s a shame that apparently not all fans enjoyed a good upbringing.”
He continued, talking to the Kurier newspaper:
“The incidents will be processed in close cooperation with the FIA over the next few days and weeks.
“But we are not going to talk about assumptions. First we will work on the issue.”
According to APA news agency, Grill told them not a single report had been filed, adding that the police had no presence at the race.
“There have been no complaints of sexual assault,” he said.
“The campsites were still busy after the bars closed at 2am, but everything went according to plan.”
Dutch GP boss Lammers added:
“There were 60,000 Dutch fans, so you wonder how many were misbehaving.
“Is it 5,000? 10,000? More?
“During our Dutch GP, I expect that the good fans will keep the bad ones in check. But I also want to appeal to people about their personal responsibility and common sense.
“You are talking about the Verstappen fan here, so Max’s name is being associated with this misconduct. So if you behave in a way that Max is ashamed of, then you are just too stupid to understand,” Lammers finished.
