Daniel Ricciardo has suggested fans in the Formula 1 paddock be given guidelines on how to behave following an especially rowdy Mexico City Grand Prix.
Rules within the paddock have been gradually relaxed over the past year, with guests once again allowed to enter F1’s inner sanctum after it became heavily restricted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once, the Formula 1 paddock was solely the domain of the teams and drivers themselves, plus selected guests, and VIPs, that has expanded following Liberty Media’s buyout of the sport.
As a result, there are ever more fans in the paddock which place ever more demand on drivers to sign autographs and take photos.
While mostly happy to oblige, some hold concerns about the behaviour of individuals who have overstepped boundaries.
That prompted Ricciardo to suggest introducing guidelines for those within the paddock to temper their enthusiasm without diminishing the atmosphere their presence creates.
“There’s two sides to it,” Ricciardo began.
“I remember, whatever, eight years ago, 10 years ago, the paddock was actually a pretty dark place, so I do like having atmosphere in the paddock.
“It should be a fun place to be but there should also be boundaries.
“To be in the paddock and have a VIP pass, it’s a privilege, and I think you also should act with some maturity and have respect.
“That hasn’t always been shown this year. People lose their mind.”
Ricciardo is clear in that he doesn’t want the sport to revert to its previous model, where it was almost impossible to enter the paddock, but believes something needs to be done.
“At least have some like guidelines, like these are the kind of the rules inside the paddock,” he ventured.
“I do want the atmosphere, I do want that, and I don’t want security, to be honest; I don’t want to be walking in a huddle and just walking through people.
“I want to be able to have photos and sign [autographs].
“If everyone says please, thank you, shows a little bit of respect, then we’ll keep giving them that in return.
“But honestly, I do catch myself calling people out way too often for not saying please or thank you – they just run up, don’t say a word, do what they have to and then go.
“You feel a little bit, honestly, like used.
“So from that point of view, I think if they set some guidelines maybe that helps because there isn’t at the moment.”
Christian Horner admitted he was concerned that he’d be accosted by fans following Max Verstappen’s victory in Mexico.
Following the race, those in the Paddock Club entered the track in front of the podium, where the Red Bull team had gathered to celebrate Verstappen’s win.
“There’s always lessons that you can learn,” Horner said.
“The level of interest and enthusiasm that there is, is unprecedented here.
“I was just thankful that I got a few guys around me with the mechanics, otherwise I’d have come out in my underpants.”
Having worked in other categories which operate to a more open paddock policy again, McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl suggests the positives outweigh the negatives.
“It’s very important to also not overreact now,” he argued.
“When I left Formula 1 after my first stint in Formula 1 in 2010, and I could experience other paddocks like DTM, like the Nordschleife, WEC, Le Mans especially, to be honest, I was enjoying it because it was a lot more open for fans
“Fans were a lot closer to the action, fans had access to the drivers and to the teams, which I enjoyed a lot.
“Whenever, during this period of my sportscar time, I went back to the Formula 1 paddock as a guest, I felt a bit odd because it was so sterile, quiet – no guests in there, even on a Saturday, Sunday where you felt not sure if that’s the right way in terms of creating exclusivity.
“So I think the direction Formula 1 took is definitely the right one and a good one, and we appreciate a lot the atmosphere that is around now in the paddocks throughout the season.
“It’s clearly too extreme,” he added of the Mexico paddock.
“We just need to follow up and have a good discussion with Formula 1; how we can make sure that, especially in countries like here in Mexico where the fans are so passionate for what we’re doing and so into the aesthetic, that we just always keep the right level of respect.
“I’m sure we will find solutions there and then [we] can keep enjoying this new atmosphere that we have in the paddock throughout the world.”
