Formula One fan who ATTACKED supporters during the Mexico Grand Prix is ‘banned for life’ after throwing punches in the crowd following home favourite Sergio Perez’s crash

• The fan threw punches at two other crowd members dressed in all red on Sunday
• They were eventually dragged out to a chorus of jeers from other supporters
• The attack came after Perez was forced to retire after crashing on the first lap

A crazed Formula One fan who attacked supporters during the Mexico Grand Prix has been banned from races for life, according to a report.

Max Verstappen won his 16th race of the season in Mexico City after leapfrogging both Carlos Sainz and pole sitter Charles Leclerc at the start, where home favourite Sergio Perez crashed out.

Perez, the only Mexican driver in Formula One, started the race from fifth on the grid but saw the opportunity to take the lead almost instantly in the race when he got off the line quickly.

He went tyre-to-tyre with Leclerc, but, as the drivers turned right into turn one, Leclerc was left unable to turn due to Verstappen being close on his right. As a result, Perez turned into the Frenchman and found himself out of the race.

It’s unclear if the Mexican’s early exit was what triggered the scrap in the stands, but a group of apparent Ferrari supporters were attacked by a supporter who, according to Chris Medland, will be unable to attend another Formula One event ever again. 

A crazed fan who attacked other supporters at the Mexican Grand Prix has reportedly been banned for life

Home favourtie Sergio Perez suffered an early exit to his home Grand Prix after colliding with Charles Leclerc after the first corner

Leclerc was booed on the podium following the race but insisted he ‘had nowhere to go’ during the incident

Home hero Perez, cheered to the echo by a crowd of 140,000, zoomed up to the front of the pack chasing 200mph on the long, 900-yard drag into the opening bend, only to turn in too early and catch the red-for-danger car of Leclerc.

Perez’s Red Bull left the asphalt, all four wheels airborne at an angle of 45 degrees. He limped back to the pits and his team tried to fix his issue, but the sidepod was too damaged and he had to retire the car after just one lap.

He thumped his steering wheel in frustration and appeared to well up, aware he was letting down the faithful, who later booed third-placed Leclerc during his podium interview.  

‘A lot of booing,’ said Leclerc as he addressed the crowd after his third-place finish. ‘Guys, I had nowhere to go. I was a bit in between the Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Sergio.

‘It’s life. I damaged my car and unfortunately it ended the race of Sergio. Of course, I’m disappointed to end the race of Sergio like that but I really didn’t do it on purpose and I had nowhere to go.’

Perez’s team-mate Max Verstappen won the race from third on the grid – his 16th victory of the season so far

140,000 fans were in attendance for the race but suffered disappointment when home favourite Perez crashed out

Footage shared of the crowd on social media appeared to show the hot-headed fan forcing his way around one fellow crowd member to get to another attendee dressed in all red.

He seemed to connect with a punch, before a second red-dressed fan got involved in a bid to stop the attack on their company, but appeared to fall down a step and too feel the wrath of the attacker.

The first red-dressed fan seemed to throw a few punches of their own to little effect, before another member of the crowd, wearing a black shirt, held the original punch-thrower back.

The attacker then seemed to put their hands in the air, being dragged out of the grand stand to a chorus of boos and jeers from the other race-goers nearby. 

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