Hamilton tells fans not to boo Rosberg: “We’re better than that”

2016 British Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton has spoken out against the treatment his team mate received from some spectators at the British Grand Prix.

During the podium ceremony Hamilton praised fans who did not boo at his team mate, saying “you don’t hear a lot of booing”, though several did jeer at Rosberg shortly afterwards.

The 2016 British Grand Prix in pictures
Speaking to Sky after the race Hamilton encouraged his supporters not to boo his rival.

“I think we’re better than that. I honestly think us as Brits, the British fans, I think we’re better than that.”

“We’ve had a great day, we don’t even need to stoop to the level of some people who’ve done that in the past. I think we’re above that.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re first or second, you should always be positive. There’s no need for it.”

Hamilton ran out to the crowd in celebration following his fourth victory on home ground.

“It was amazing to get out there,” he said. “I tried to crowd surf but I guess I’m heavy! I’m not, I’m really light.”

“What an amazing crowd we have here. We unequivocally have the best fans in the world here. You never see that anywhere. In Italy, of course, they’ve got good fans there but I think the passion here is equal if not greater.”

2016 British Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    46 comments on “Hamilton tells fans not to boo Rosberg: “We’re better than that””

    1. I used to think we were better than that, too.

      I was deeply disappointed by the behaviour of those fans who booed Rosberg, just like I am any fans who boo any driver at any grand prix. It completely contradicted Hamilton’s claim that they are the “best fans in the world”.

      Formula 1 fans should be above such disrespectful behaviour. I respect Hamilton for attempting to diffuse the situation with what he said on the podium, but sadly it had little effect.

      1. I think the “best fans in the world” is a group comprised of F1 fans from every country. Sadly, “the worst fans in the world” is also a group comprised of F1 fans from every country. This whole nationalism thing makes increasingly less sense in the modern world, and I’m shocked at level headed people paying lip service to it.

        1. I’m very proud of my country, culture and where I come from that people have labelled me a nationalist.
          However, I don’t like the booing at F1 events either.
          Does that me part the ‘best F1 fan’ or the ‘worst F1 fan’ group?

          1. Neither of them as we lack evidences Mick.
            @williamjones explained who you find in those groups according to him, not how these people are selected.

      2. As ugly as booing is, I think the fans were reacting to the incident last week in Austria where Hamilton encountered boos. Some fans were so upset about that afterwards that they immediately posted on social media that they will boo Nico in Silverstone. And they have stuck to their words.
        Lewis as always continues to appeal to the positive side of humanity but I doubt his detractors will even notice. Expect them to deny this statement from him ever happened or worse still turn it around to abuse him.

        1. So, booing Lewis is bad, but booing Nico is good?

          Two wrongs don’t make a right. And your last paragraph is pure twaddle.

          1. @jules-winfield – I didn’t read Tata’s post as saying “booing Nico is good” at all. And if you think people don’t twist positive words into negative statements, you’re sadly naive. Maybe you live somewhere decent, honest and balanced.

        2. If what you say is true, they’re no better, and in my eyes even worse, than those booing first if you have to get back to the faceless grp that did it previous round. With this manner, the booing would continue every race, since neither side is stopping. So every booer, and on the contrary to William Jones, I bet money that UK representation is majority in todays booing crowd.

        3. yeah, well that just shows their ignorance. Rosberg did not have anything to do with the booing (rather it was down to the track audio saying Hamilton was to blame for the accident right after it happened – not a good reason either, but an explanation of why), and here Hamilton clearly applied to the fans to keep good sporting spirits and they still did that.

          There is just no good excuse for that. Even more so if it is meant as “retaliation” for something else. That is how you get camps of football supporters meeing up somewhere in the fields to battle it out.

          1. @jules-winfield, @lari, @bascb. Come on guys.
            Are you all so blind that you could not see that my opening line is “As ugly as booing is..” That implies that I find it distasteful. Then I went ahead to state what may have been the cause of the issue. After which I complemented Hamilton for saying such should not happen.
            In nowhere did I at all say or give the impression that booing is a good thing no matter how it is done. If you think otherwise, then it is your choice to perceive what you want.
            Reading and comprehension, guys.

            1. nope Tata. It is far to similar to the classical line “I don’t want to be a ….” when the rest of the comment clearly shows that you ARE the thing you said you are not.

            2. @bascb
              It’s called being devil’s advocate. As I said in another post, Rosberg is seen as a pantomime villain. Unfairly, clearly, as Hamilton has done his fair share of pushing the boundaries, but this is a partisan crowd.

              I can’t remember if Schumacher was ever booed at Silverstone, it was a similar situation with him though after Adelaide 94.

            3. Not sure about Schumi being booed (probably he was after 94 yeah), but Senna certainly was in the past (for example in 91) @george.

          2. @jules-winfield, @lari, @bascb
            If you guys paid more attention to Nico’s resounding silence on the booing that Hamilton encountered in Austria, you would not be scrutinizing my comment.
            It speaks to the character of the two men that Hamilton comes to Nico’s defence while Nico will not do that for Ham.

            1. Hm, well I think you must have been the only one seeing Rosberg on the podium in Austria to remain silent then Tata!

      3. It’s good that Hamilton asked the fans to be fair and not boo his rival. Did Rosberg say the same last week when Hamilton was booed in Austria ? I don’t recall any defense of Hamilton from Rosberg after that incident. A small point but it does for me at least show another difference between the two drivers to Hamilton’s credit.

        1. You shouldn’t expect that level of compassion from Nico.

          1. He was not on the podium in Austria!

      4. At the Melbourne GP in 2014 during the autograph signing I was waiting in line for McLaren while other drivers came and went. When Vettel came up there was a large crowd booing him because of the previous season between him and Webber. Notably, Multi-21. Despite Vettel being gracious, answering questions and staying longer than he needed to, when he was thanked by Will Buxton, there was a huge wave of booing.

        I was not a fan of Vettel at the time by a long shot, he was my villain (he’s grown on me since, now that he’s matured) but that was so appalling, myself and many of the McLaren fans in the line started cheering and yelling and clapping as loud as we could to muffle out the boos and show him some respect.

        There’s no place for booing in sport.

      5. It made Hamilton look silly actually.

    2. Apparently they are not better than that.

      1. 52% of them probably voted for Brexit. So, no.

        1. Indeed, in a larger scale.

        2. spot on!

    3. I was starting to dislike Hamilton a bit lately because of all the Hollywood crap, but to me he’s back to hero status after saying this. I hope this will help to stop F1 fans from sliding down to football levels.

      1. Pity it wasnt true though.

    4. The cynic in me thinks this was just some kind of reverse psychology by Hamilton; by mentioning the booing he really invited it as it was Rosberg’s turn to be interviewed right after Hamilton’s remark.

      1. I just think that he maybe thought they would boo (they already did when Rosberg got handed the trophy for second) and hoped he could prevent that from happening @kaiie with his words. Sadly the fans showed that they are not all that great, nor do they have much respect for the drivers.

      2. yes! i thought that straight away. It’s sad to see that hamiltons sucess is creating the rossi effect (at silverstone)and these people are not racing fans. I think thats why the stands were full compared to friday. Its good for the circuit revenue but it drags the sport down to football levels of class with the booin.

    5. The myth about British racing fans being different, let alone better than other racing fans has been busted. There are just as much pathetic people in the UK as in other countries. That being said, I think Hamilton did well in trying to hush the booing. Goodies for Ham.

    6. Lol, Booing Hamilton rival… Bleh. I was sure this was not gonna happen at Silverstone.

      So much about British class. Nobody booed Milos Raonic at Wimbeldon.

      But hey its Nico Rosberg the german who crashes in to Lewis often.

      1. That only happens to Nick Kygrios mate…..and as an aussie i have to say its deserved.

    7. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      10th July 2016, 18:07

      I’m surprised by the rather pompous condemnation of what was nothing more than pantomime booing. British GP tickets cost an extortionate amount, if the fans want to enjoy the day and get involved in creating a great atmosphere then so be it.
      It really sticks in my throat to see so many people dictating how the fans should behave, I never knew the sport was full of so many ‘luvvies’.

      1. I don’t think it matters what context people are in, being a rude, inconsiderate and disrespectful ass-hat is bad everywhere. People shouldn’t behave like that simply because it’s a bad way to behave. If booing is somehow enjoyable, I can just imagine the kind of people they are.

      2. Well said @jackisthestig !

        If you don’t like booing, don’t boo. But cut the condescending BS!

    8. Heroes and Villains!
      There is no malice in it, people love a good show & like to join in with the pantomime.

    9. nothing wrong with a bit of booing if somebody has done something especially dastardly during the race but Rosberg didn’t do anything this time and Austria is in the past so poor form from those who boo’d today.

      It’s not a sport anymore than Dart’s is a sport, it’s a game, a bit of drama and a spectacle.

    10. I thought it was hilarious that Hamilton snarked the Austrian fans for booing, suggesting that the Uk fans were above that, and then 2 seconds later they boo Rosberg. Such an neat lesson in how humans rarely miss a golden opportunity to take a higher road.

    11. Did anyone boo before Hamilton mentioned it?

      1. Yes. The boos started as Rosberg walked out onto the podium (before the interviews). Hamilton by no means caused it.

    12. While I appreciate LH to encourage the crowd not to boo, at the same time he states that “British” fans are better than others (Austrian?). Such a (nationalistic) generalization is not ok.

      1. @eagle I guess it’s a good thing Lewis is his own man, and doesn’t obey your rules… Guess he’s just a rebel…

        But seriously, I never knew f1 fans were so uptight…
        I boo every one of you guys complaining about boos! If you don’t like what someone has to say… Why not go cry about it?

    13. I wonder what it is that gets people to boo. It is so unsporting when there is not a clear reason for it. Might be a new thing though.

      Same in football really, it seems to be a new thing that the home team fans start whistling for every ball contact of the opponent right from the start (last seen at the French games of the Euro 2016, and some non-French games, too). 10 or 20 years ago, I had only seen this when players were passing the ball to each other in the back in order to waste time.

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