Lewis Hamilton: Record F1 Champion Opens Up on Hostile Crowd Reception at Mexico Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton: Record F1 Champion Opens Up on Hostile Crowd Reception at Mexico Grand Prix

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM
  • Lewis Hamilton got a rude reception from fans as he competed at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, October 30th
  • The Mexican fans assumably wanted their home hero Sergio Perez to beat the legendary Formula 1 driver on home soil
  • The race was won by double champion Max Verstappen who once again extended his dominance this season

A hostile crowd greeted Lewis Hamilton over the weekend at the Mexico Grand Prix, which left the legendary driver bemused.

Hamilton was in action for Mercedes and he started the day on P3 behind reigning champion Max Verstappen and his teammate George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Mexican Grand Prix, Sergio Perez, October 30th
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen line up at the podium after competing at the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo by Gongora.
Source: Getty Images

The Briton climbed to P2 and almost gave fans a reminder of his battle with Verstappen of last season. However, the Red Bull driver extended his dominance to win the race.

Mercedes' tyre strategy proved too costly as Hamilton opted to start with medium tyres while Verstappen went with the soft tyre. The decision backfired as Verstappen ended up opening a 15-second gap on the seven-time winner.

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Verstappen's new record

Verstappen, who was already crowned champion at the Suzuka Grand Prix three weeks ago, won the race to set a new record for the most number of wins in a single season.

During the post-match interviews, Hamilton received boos from the crowd that had gathered at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues.

The boos from the Mexican crowd were an indication of how they felt about Hamilton, who has been the closest challenger of Red Bull. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez is a Mexican and the home crowd inevitably wanted him and his team to put in good results. He finished in third place.

As Planet F1 reports, Hamilton was surprised by the boos.

"This has been an amazing crowd, definitely a bit awkward this time around. Boos all day, but nonetheless I have so much love for Mexico and for the people here and what a great race event they put on this weekend."

Formula next heads to Brazil before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen is the 2022 F1 Champion

Max Verstappen put in a dominant performance to win the Japanese Grand Prix and a second Formula 1 title on Sunday morning, 9th October 2022.

The title decider looked set to be postponed to the next Grand Prix in the United States after Charles Leclerc finished second.

However, the Ferrari driver was given a five-second penalty for straying off the line towards the end.

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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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