Lewis Hamilton finished second while Perez finished third at last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix
In a photo that has gone viral on the internet, Sergio Perez can be seen waving fingers toward the crowd, asking them not to boo Lewis Hamilton. Fans present booed throughout race day at the Mexican GP Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the circuit. The booing culture has become more common in F1 in the recent past with Hamilton and Verstappen more frequently on the receiving end. Despite the boos, Hamilton had a great outing in Mexico and finished second on the podium behind Red Bull’s Verstappen.
It is understood that the crowd booed Hamilton to demoralise him and help local favourite Sergio Perez achieve a better finish. The Mexican fans in attendance didn’t want Hamilton to do well at the expense of Perez.However, it was indeed heartening to see Perez himself requesting the fans not to boo the seven-time world champion. The Red Bull driver eventually finished in third place, behind Hamilton and Verstappen.
Let us take a look at some of the reactions from fans regarding this incident on Twitter.
“Max will be booed heavily in Brazil next week as well. It’s sad how divisive the fanbases have become”, wrote a fan referring to the booing culture which has become so common in F1 these days.
“Hamilton tells the British crowd not to boo, Perez tells the Mexican crowd not to boo, Verstappen at Zandvoort?”, wrote another fan.
“It was respectful of Checo to do that. There’s no way that Max would EVER do the same. He is the sole reason that the sport has developed a toxic atmosphere. Schumacher v Hill, Montoya, Häkkinen, Villeneuve, Lewis v Rosberg, NEVER been as bad as Max has made it. Shameful”, read another tweet.
“Checo has Lewis in great regard but Lewis fans hate him so much it’s not even funny and doesn’t make sense”, tweeted another fan.
“And that’s why people prefer Perez over Verstappen. Perez has integrity and is an all round decent guy. Verstappen… Well, he’s the opposite of Perez”, wrote another fan.
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