“We didn’t really know what to expect”– Lewis Hamilton surprised by reception received at Zandvoort

Tanish Chachra | 24/09/2021
"We didn’t really know what to expect"– Lewis Hamilton surprised by reception received at Zandvoort

“We didn’t really know what to expect”– Lewis Hamilton got a massive surprise with the reception he received at Zandvoort.

Lewis Hamilton was in his arch-rival’s land when he went to compete in the Dutch Grand Prix. Many expected a hostile reception towards the Briton as the memories of the Silverstone collision were still very fresh.

But by the end of the Dutch GP, Hamilton got applause for his performances, and for Hamilton, it was surprising, as, in the previous races, he was severely booed by Verstappen fans.

“To be honest, we didn’t really know what to expect beforehand. We took into account that the atmosphere would be negative,” said Hamilton to De Telegraaf.

“But 99 percent of the people were so terribly positive. I was very surprised by that. Especially since I’m up against a Dutch rival. Of course there were a few people yelling ‘boo’. But they were drowned out by the others.”

“It was one of the best weekends of this year. Of course I would have liked to win, but next year we will go back. I was already a big fan of Amsterdam, that is really a place where I could live. But I also found Zandvoort with the beach freaking beautiful place.”

Glorious night for the Orange army

The hostility between Hamilton and the Orange army was evident, but Verstappen win on Sunday maybe submerged those feelings of resentment.

The Dutch fans wanted to rejoice in the victory of their local hero on the occasion of F1 returning to their land after decades. The Netherlands only have Verstappen as their representative on the grid, and being a protagonist in the world championship fight is a massive deal for the nation.

Verstappen currently leads the championship table with a five-point lead. It only remains to be seen whether he will manage to hold onto this advantage.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes Red Bull

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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