Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Zandvoort, 2021

Hamilton praises Dutch GP fans amid boos after Verstappen pips him to pole

2021 Dutch Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton praised fans at Zandvoort despite the booing which greeted him after he claimed second place on the grid for tomorrow’s Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver came within 38 thousandths of a second of denying Max Verstappen a popular home pole position.

Interviewed after qualifying by former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde, who urged the crowd to restrain their jeers, Hamilton said: “I just want to say a big, big thank you to all the orange fans here, the Dutch fans.

“What an amazing venue, what an amazing track. I really do genuinely love coming to this country and I really appreciate the welcome. There’s great sporting fans here and I love how it’s just been good. I really appreciate it.”

Hamilton was pleased to cut his deficit to Verstappen after completing the least laps of any driver in practice yesterday.

“Max did an amazing lap and I was so close,” he said. “I was trying to catch him, obviously with yesterday’s session missed it made it a little bit difficult of a day, but I gave it absolutely everything and he did a fantastic lap and deserves a pole.”

All weekend drivers have predicted overtaking will be very difficult at the revamped home of the Dutch Grand Prix.

“It’s going to be a tough one,” he said. “It’s a difficult circuit to overtake. But what a place for us to be racing.

“I think strategy will obviously come into it a lot. But we’re going to see a crowd like this, we haven’t seen a crowd like this in a while, so it’s really, really great to see so many people here, and I hope that tomorrow the track helps us provide a good race. It’s a very, very tough circuit, which is what makes it so fantastic to drive.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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79 comments on “Hamilton praises Dutch GP fans amid boos after Verstappen pips him to pole”

  1. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
    4th September 2021, 15:54

    Smart play from a smart driver. The ‘fans’ will lose at least some satisfaction if the person they’re booing isn’t responding to it and Hamilton knows that.

    Having said that: I really don’t quite get the problem with boo’ing in general. Maybe it’s new in F1 but in other sports like Football, it has been going on for at least as long as I’m alive. And looking at the average fan of both sports, I really don’t see many differences

    1. You should watch NBA, you’ll see some crazy ones…

    2. If we start to move F1 fans closer to football fans via booing,
      then surely it is only a matter of time before we have t divide fans into separate enclosures depending on affiliation.

      It is a sad evolution, imho.

      1. I am fine with it even if I am also a Hamilton fan. Maybe cos I’m used to football.

        Mind you, I mean keeping it strictly to boos here and not anything more.

      2. Agreed, Frank! Booing doesn’t feel so bad in team sports where it’s more of a tribal thing and you’re essentially booing a team. But in individual sports, seeing a group of people getting at a single person it makes for a disgusting display of intimidation.
        I don’t want motorsports to lower themselves down to such level and I hope this behaviour gets publicly ostracized.

        1. The thing is that it is a team sport. Hkwever i dont like the booing either. The whole venue feels like a football stadiun with the smoke and all too

    3. I really don’t quite get the problem with boo’ing in general.

      @barryfromdownunder – I’d say that’s because F1 isn’t a tribal sport such as those sports. Its stars are international and, apart from historical geopolitic animosities, it’s not really the place for that behaviour.

      Still, with that much glorifying stances towards importance of the crowds and stuff, it is only a matter of time for it to be usual.

      After all, cars dropped being the stars for some time now. We live the age of feelings and personalities cults.

    4. @barryfromdownunder I totally agree with the booing thing. I’ve not been in the crowd when it’s happening, but I see it much more of a jest-fun making thing from a party loving crowd. F1 crowds in Europe are by far the most drunken party going crowds I’ve ever been in (Finns relentlessly chanting ‘Mika’ ten years after his retirement).

      I think it’s all meant in good fun, if Lewis was an 19yr old rookie, I think it could be different, but he’s the benchmark and the ‘elder statesman’ of the sport, I don’t think it’s meant to disrespect him, if anything, it reaffirms his place in the sport, and that he’s just so hard to beat.

      I was in the crowd for a Djokovic v Federer semi-final at the Aus Open where the everyone was deadly silent whenever Novak scored a point and as the match went on and Roger got massively out played, the crowd erupted in pandemonium whenever Roger scored a point in a set he’d long since lost. Even if Roger just picked up the ball to serve everyone was celebrating like he’d won every grand slam with a single shot.

      People enjoy being partisan, it’s innate, and unlike politics, or just behaving in such a blatantly silly way in society in general, in sport it’s relatively harmless and can be a fun. I don’t think any of those fans actually wish any harm on Lewis, or dislike him for the colour of his skin or nationality. They boo him because it’s a cartoonish way of saying ‘we like Max!’.

      As i’m sure Novak can confirm, you can be the best, but that won’t stop people loving Roger, in fact the more you beat him, the more they love Roger. It’s primal, and silly, but it’s I think it’s part of the fun of sport. And Lewis to his credit I think handles it very well.

      1. @bernasaurus – The thing with Hamilton is simply because he is the undisputed benchmark, as it was with Schumacher. Not nice, but kinda fathomable.

        But what crowds did with the same Hamilton when younger and, by extent, with a young Vettel, just because both came out storming, it was nasty.

        And actually, some always tried to do that with Verstappen, but his supporters are way louder than the detractors, and at least in that sense, it is a good thing.

      2. @bernasaurus I really think your viewpoint of booing being almost a compliment is perverse. By nature, booing is disrespectful.

        You don’t believe anyone being booed has ever had to wonder what the intention behind it was, do you?

        Such disruptive jeering is disrespectful towards your fellow “fans” as well. Anyone who’s truly a fan of the sport they’re following shouldn’t appreciate such negative behavior imo.

        If I were a VER fan in the Zandvoort stands, other fans booing would really detract from my enjoyment of the event, and I’d be leaving the track with a bad taste in my mouth.

        They’re making everyone else look bad after all – not HAM.

        People could be positive and cheer on their preferred team or athlete, rather than lowering themselves to something as boorish as booing.

      3. I think you are massively underestimating the effects on society of habitually painting others as ‘the enemy’, who are by nature evil, malicious and consistently plotting with authorities against you.

    5. Personally, I find booing of individuals like this repulsive.

    6. Booing is childlike behavior. Restraining one’s animal brain is part of being an adult.

  2. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    4th September 2021, 15:57

    There was more cheering/applause than booing yet Keith needs his click bait headline again so focus on the negatives.

    1. @jelle-van-der-meer I agree that this definitely deserved a mention. I’m sure the booing was a genuine issue, but after qually I was really pleased that it seemed the Dutch had taken it on themselves to drown out the vocal minority that were letting them down.

      I’ve seen far worse clickbait than this though.

    2. It was largely booing – a poor show by the fans.

      1. I was in the stands. And I can tell you that there was a little booing which was overshadowed by applause!

      2. There were a few idiots booing. Most fans were applauding Lewis.

      3. Nonsense. I was in the grandstands and it simply isn’t true. Some booing that was all but drowned out by applause and cheers.
        Click bait title indeed.

    3. For a few seconds you could hear a lot of booing above the polite applause and cheering. Once Lewis started talking, it calmed right down
      I’m fine with it at this level, I wouldn’t want to see any more. Fan behaviour is one of the main reasons the only sport I watch regularly is Motorsport.

    4. Ok, your anti-british, we get it. If you don’t like the way Keith presents information relating to F1 then feel free to switch to a site that suits your personal taste. No need to attack an individual that basically built this community from the ground up.

      1. Lazy ergo decedo argument. Keith can do no wrong, is that it? He wrote a headline that is clearly more untruthful than truthful.

        1. There was booing so how is it untruthful…

      2. The” if you don’t like it leave” argument is very childish. That’s not how the adult world works. People have a problem and the say it. Keith has run this sit for a long time. I’m sure he can take some criticism.

    5. So you agree with the headline then, in that there were boos. So not clickbait.

    6. Actually just before Ham praised the Dutch fans it was all booing, as soon as he praised them it shut them right up. I just watched it.

      So its not click bait is is.

      Want me to record it and post a link to the video for you?

      1. I am sure we’ve all seen and heard it ourselves, but you go ahead and choose to see and hear whatever you want to.

    7. Yeah I didn’t hear much booing either.

      Makes sense that in a crowd of 70k people it’s not just low IQ trash that would boo a driver because they fell for the Horner/Marko propaganda.

    8. @jelle-van-der-meer

      The TV feed picked up a very loud booing moment as Hamilton came up to do his interview, so the perception of international viewers will be quite different.

  3. Daily Reminder: Silverstone was a racing incident.

    1. Nofanboysplease
      4th September 2021, 16:14

      Good for you Dave….

    2. @Dave A good reminder.

      1. Lol Daily Reminder: When you get to be an F1 race steward you can try to convince your fellow stewards of your opinion when you have all the data, all you want.

    3. Daily reminder: the british grandstands cheered when verstappen went out, that’s the same level of booing.

      1. Also: Lewis wasn’t aware about Max going to the hospital for checks, as a Twitter user pointed out.

      2. That’s actualy not what happened. They cheered when they thought Lewis was managing to overtake, then went very quiet when Max hit the barrier.

        1. Agreed, and then they cheered when he got out of the car from what my broadcast seemed to show @paulguitar

  4. Am I the only 1 who didn’t hear booing, infact there was applause, kinda unfair towards Dutch crowd who have been wonderful even if there was few boo’s. I have seen worse in other sports and nobody complaints.

  5. I thought the booing was quite subdued and short lived; quite a bit of self-policing it seems.

  6. Keith has his agenda all set before things, just waiting the minimal sign of this happening to throw it.

  7. Hamilton should just answer them on the track drive for a win…and beat Vesterpen at home race.job done

    1. Yeah that’ll stop the booing;)

  8. Is it “pipped” if Lewis literally never posted a faster time than Max in Qualifying?

    I get that it was close, but Max was ahead all day. Seems poor use of verb.

  9. Silly headline. I am at the track, and it was at least 80% cheers /20% boos.

    1. The headline just states hamilton thabks the fans. Not tha king for booing but juwt in general. Amidst boo’s, and those were there too. So the headline is accurate

      1. @cdfemke

        The headline is accurate in the way that the media commonly deceives people while technically not lying: by leaving out relevant details, causing people to draw wrong conclusions.

        1. So now you ar expecting them to post a deceiving title, but they didnt, qnd you feel deceived because they didbt deceive you wit the title. Thats deep man

      2. The headline is very obviously attempting to present a picture of Hamilton praising fans in the face of hostility, when the opposite is largely truthful.

        1. The opposite? So Ham was disparaging the Dutch fans whilst they were cheering him? The cad.

          1. Headlines are meant to get people to read the article and there is an art to that, and with all media it is folly to just go by the headline.

          2. The only word you need in any article on here to get the most clicks or comments is Hamilton.

    2. If there was any boo’ing then the headline is accurate

  10. This is becoming ridiculous now. Are fans not allowed to have a favourite driver, to dislike a driver? What’s the deal with the constant request for sanitisation of support? Plenty of British fans cheered when Verstappen slammed into the barriers at Silverstone and I don’t recall an article on that.

    You can tell Keith had this handwringing headline typed and ready to go before the session even started.

    1. Aww. Cry some more.

      I’m glad Max isn’t British, hes’s such a brat.

      1. Very mature.

        1. Errrr… do you see the irony in this? Oh wise one.

          1. Irony because…? What, I offered an example of a similar situation not reported on in the same way? That’s on the same level as “cry more” to you?

          2. No…its because your original comment was so far from being “Mature” that I didn’t believe anyone would have the cheek to knock someone else for being immature.

          3. Agh… I’m very sorry! I’ve made a mistake here! I’ve completely mixed up the comments… please accept my apologies. Genuine tipsy error. The comment you replied to was indeed Immature.

  11. Keith: Boooooooooo

  12. Love it!!! Superb response Lewis – Simply lovely 😂

  13. Wow Keith, do you really have to milk out a few idiots booing, while the best part op 70.000 people were aplauding him? Pathetic.

  14. I was at the tack. There was minimal to zero boos. Actually quite a lot of cheering for Lewis after his 2nd qualifying lap.

  15. Praising the fans while they are booing him is classic Stockholm syndrome so they are really getting to him. Looked pale again, but at least not getting faint like last time.

    1. I think he’s got to you more than the crowd has got to him, Lewis has been taking stick from the side of a race track all he’s life, and were not just talking booing.
      Ask any sportsperson about booing and they say it gives the opposite result to what those booing think it will achieve.

      1. He’s never really had booing, but benefited from it when his fans booed Rosberg and Vettel. Both were deeply affected by it. Rosberg quit and Vettel is so desperate to be liked now he will do anything, even pick garbage in the stands.

        Hamilton is the same. When he gender shamed his cousin and got booed online, it caused a massive transformation like Vettel to where he was seeking likes any way he could (by taking on causes popular in social media). And last time he faced massive booing in Hungary on the podium he almost passed out from the experience.

        1. Do you have a picture of Hamilton on a Dart board?…..asking for a friend.

          1. @f1-plossl Ah, the inevitable personal attack from a Hamilton fan. It never seizes to amaze me how similiar you all are. It simply cannot be another explanation than Hamilton somehow just attracts the immature types. Quite revealing that.

          2. I was gonna write a long reply about how the anti Ham crowd mask there true intentions behind a sporting background and then play the victim or how they write the most outlandish claims…then I just thought Meh….

        2. @f1-plossl That you would attack me was totally predictable anyway

  16. The anti-Hamilton Brigade.

    ‘There was no booing!!!’
    ‘You can tell the booing got to him’

    1. Ian Dearing going for the posters as always

  17. my favorite thing about this website is seeing the same few commenters under every hamilton article deride any and every little thing possible…

    1. Another one

  18. Classy from HAM. Booing is fine.

  19. I think some booing is OK as long as it doesn’t escalate to insults, name calling, etc… F1 drivers have enjoyed the “Star” life for decades at the expense of the fans, viewers, merch buyers, etc… this is just another test for the multi-million dollar drivers to handle, if they are smart they will handle that part of the weekend race like any other difficult corner at the track.

    Hamilton is not my preferred driver, however I wish other athletes in other sports could learn from him, he knows how to handle these situations, always thanking the fans for showing up at the track, for supporting F1 etc… and the way he handled the booing today was superb, the crowd starting the booing when Hamilton’s interview started and by the time Hamilton’s interview ended the crowd was cheering and clapping… no more booing, we need to give it to Hamilton for managing it superbly.

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