02/09/2021
NEWS STORY
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.