Ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has publicly called out Red Bull by explaining why he does not believe that the Milton Keynes outfit has been the most supportive of Sergio Perez. The Briton criticized one member in particular from Red Bull for poorly treating the Mexican.
“I don’t think his team has been really, massively supportive of him. I don’t want to say ‘the team’ because there are a lot of people in a team, but one of those particular team spokespersons has not been pretty great to help him psychologically“, explained Hamilton.
The 38-year-old then explained how it would be incredibly difficult for him as well if Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spoke negatively about him. As a result, Hamilton believes that Perez has managed the “difficult environment” at Red Bull “to the best of his abilities“.
Although Hamilton did not name anyone, one individual who has been very critical of Perez is Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko. The Austrian received immense criticism after he launched a “South American” jibe to criticize the Mexican’s poor performances this season.
Since there are concerns that Red Bull may not be the most supportive of Perez, the 33-year-old has asked the Mexican fans (as quoted by AP) ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend to support his entire team and not just him. His remarks come after many fans at the US GP last weekend booed his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.
Red Bull have amped up security to protect Max Verstappen
After witnessing a hostile atmosphere for Max Verstappen at the US GP last weekend, Red Bull want to take no chances. As a result, the team have hired bodyguards to protect the Dutchman. Helmut Marko stated that even though the 26-year-old never asked for the same, the Austrian believes it is the team’s responsibility to protect their driver.
“Max doesn’t actually want that (bodyguards) and is relaxed. But we have responsibility for him, so we just want to be on the safe side,” revealed Marko in an interview with F1-Insider.
When Verstappen was asked about the same, he just reminded fans to respect all drivers. “I think it’s good to support your favorite driver but also have respect to others in particular places,” the 26-year-old said in an interview with Sky Sports.
Verstappen then explained how he found it disrespectful that when he was on the podium, and the Dutch national anthem was on, fans booed him. Even though the Sky Sports reporter told Verstappen that some Texans claimed the boos were for Governor Abbott, the Dutchman was certain that the chants were for him.
The three-time world champion will now hope to keep the distractions aside and focus on this weekend’s Mexico GP, where he can register a record 16th win of the season. Verstappen also held the record for the most wins in a season previously when he clinched 15 victories in the last campaign.
