Max Verstappen admits that it is inevitable that the Orange Army will give title rival Lewis Hamilton a hard time this weekend.

As he steps into the cauldron that is Zandvoort, for Max Verstappen's home race, Lewis Hamilton is showing no signs of nerves. Indeed, the seven-time world champion, and seemingly all that stands between Verstappen and his first title, arrived at the seaside track dressed entirely in orange.

At previous races, the Mercedes driver has faced booing from some of the fans, and while Toto Wolff suggested it stemmed from racism, Hamilton said the crowd reaction fuels him.

Asked, if he might wish to send a message to the fans calling on them to take it easy on Hamilton, Verstappen was in no doubt.

"I look at it like this," he responded, "when you go to a football match, you come into the home ground, the opposition will be booed at some point and it's not up to the local club to go on to the speakers and say 'guys, you cannot boo', as it will naturally happen.

"Also in football," he continued, "they are very passionate and they support their local team.

"I don't think it's up to me to then say 'guys you cannot boo'," he insisted, "because at the end of the day I am not them and I have to just focus on what I am doing on the track.

"I am pretty sure that most of them are here for a great weekend to see cars racing and of course, some of them will boo," he admitted. "I cannot decide for them. Like you say you can do it and say 'you cannot do this', but do you really think they're going to listen to me? I just hope that they will have a good weekend.

"It would be bad if that would give me an added boost," said the Dutch driver of the prospect of booing. "As long as it doesn't affect Lewis, I guess that's what you want to hear, right? That's the most important?

"What I hope from the whole weekend is that everyone is having a good time and they enjoy seeing the cars on the track, seeing us battle it out there for the best possible result."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Zandvoort, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 06/09/2021 2:30

"@ Roli....any chance of an update on your suggested outcome at Zandvoort?"

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2. Posted by Oil Leak77, 03/09/2021 12:37

"Re: Toto Wolff playing the race card. I notice he's a member of Mercedes Racing's all-white board room. As is the main company board room. Actions speak louder than words. "

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3. Posted by kenji, 03/09/2021 1:55

"In the spirit of free speech then if someone want's to boo then that's fine by me. People are allowed to cheer their favourites especially when they triumph so why not equally allow them to boo when they are disappointed? Just more cancel culture. As usual Wolff descends into the 'racism' pit when it suits' him. Were the British fans who booed Rosberg at Silverstone in 2016 also being racist? It's healthy to 'provoke the woke'."

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4. Posted by KKK, 02/09/2021 18:35

"No, you are right Max, you cant stop the booing. Lewis will beat you and then they will boo."

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5. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 02/09/2021 16:37

"@Mad Matt - with you on that one. I'm all for cheering on the home crowd favorite. But I don't quite get the desire to expend energy on booing the opposition. Seems the positive energy of cheering your guy would be better for everyone than the negative energy of booing the other guy."

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6. Posted by Mad Matt, 02/09/2021 16:07

"In principal I agree with what Max is saying.... but it doesn't help when Christian Horner comes along and stirs things up (yes and sometimes Toto Wolf too).

Personally I think booing is something best left for children at a pantomime."

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7. Posted by jcr, 02/09/2021 13:43

"Trust Toto to bring racism into it."

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I can't stop the booing, says Verstappen

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