“You really think they are going to listen to me?”– Max Verstappen claims Orange Army’s hostility towards Lewis Hamilton is out of his domain.
Lewis Hamilton has been subject to a certain amount of hostility from Max Verstappen fans, which initially stemmed out of their collision in Silverstone a few weeks ago.
But Verstappen claims he can’t do anything to stop his fans booing Hamilton at the venue this weekend while citing an example of an away team in the home stadium of their opponent.
Orange Army #F1 #ZandvoortF1 pic.twitter.com/d30YeHvzgh
— Enes F1 (@Enes_F1) August 31, 2021
“When you go to a football match, you come into a home ground, the opposition will be booed at some point and it’s not up to the local club to go onto the speakers and say ‘guys you cannot boo’ because it will naturally happen,” he said.
“In football, they are very passionate and they support their local team. I don’t think it’s up to me to say guys you cannot boo because I am not them and I have to just focus on what I’m doing on the track.”
“I’m pretty sure most of them are here for a great weekend to see cars racing and of course some of them will boo but I cannot decide for them.”
“You can say you cannot boo but do you really think they are going to listen to me? So I think just hope that they will have a good weekend.”
Booing Lewis Hamilton doesn’t motivate me
Though his fans inject their whole might to resent Hamilton at the venue, Verstappen claims that such acts against the Briton don’t give him extra motivation.
“That would be bad if that would give me an added boost,” he said. “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 of course that everyone is having a good time and they enjoy seeing the cars on the track. Seeing us battle it out for the best possible result.”