“Motorsport is not like football, we are fans of everyone, of course a little more of Max Verstappen”– Former F1 driver feels its shameful for F1 fans to boo Lewis Hamilton

Former F1 driver Christijan Albers feels that it wasn’t right to jeer Lewis Hamilton amidst his fierce rivalry with Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s rivalry escalated after the collision between the two in Silverstone. The Orange Army, which is known as the supporters of Verstappen, went all-in against Hamilton since that day.

They jeered Hamilton in every race wherever they were overwhelmingly present, especially during the Dutch Grand Prix. Though, it finally stopped when Hamilton graciously thanked the fans at Zandvoort for an incredible atmosphere.

Nevertheless, former F1 driver Christijan Albers thinks it is unacceptable for fans to boo an F1 driver, especially when it’s a seven-time world champion.

“Again with qualifying, there was shouting,” Albers told Motorsport.com. “In all the years that I have been active in motorsport, that has never happened. Once, in Austria, in the year that Barrichello had to let Schumacher pass.”

“Motorsport is not like football. We are fans of everyone, of course, a little more of Max Verstappen, but this does not belong in motorsport. I think it is really terrible.”

Also read: Tom Holland says he is impressed by the work ethics of Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton lost the championship in a terrible way

Albers further expressed his sympathy to Hamilton, who lost the 2021 championship during the season’s final race, in seemingly a controversial manner.

“I felt for Lewis,” he said. “He had driven such a fantastic race and then it comes down to a decision. A championship you can’t do anything about, you can’t influence. That’s the worst, losing the championship like that.”

The events of that day dragged Hamilton away from the F1 world, and till now, he hasn’t opened up to the media. Thus, it has triggered the rumours of the Briton retiring from F1 ahead of the 2022 season.

Now, it only remains to be seen whether these reports will come out true or not.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton finally tells us what he really feels about being frequently booed

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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