Lando Norris was surprisingly booed by the crowd after his victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday.
The McLaren driver, starting on pole, kept the lead at the start and then cruised to a 30-second victory over second-placed Charles Leclerc, with Max Verstappen completing the podium.
The result gives Norris the F1 world championship lead for the first time since April, overtaking Oscar Piastri in the standings after the Australian could only manage fifth. That being said, the gap between the McLaren drivers is just one point with four races to go.
Yet Norris, both as he was interviewed straight after the race in the famous stadium section and when he stepped onto the podium, was jeered by the vociferous Mexican crowd.
Sky F1 pundit Jamie Chadwick, a three-time W Series champion, slammed the boos, saying: “I hate it, I hate booing for anyone. That needs to be applauded, not booed.”
Ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok also insisted he “hates” booing by F1 fans at events.
On paper, there seems no obvious reason why Norris would be unpopular with the Mexican supporters, with 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve adding: “He's not even fighting [Sergio] Perez, unless there's a lot of Piastri fans in the grandstand.”
Norris, however, ignored the boos and was content enough with his first victory since July on a dominant weekend for the Briton.
“I love it!” Norris said, when applause drowned out the boos at the beginning of the interview.
“What a race - I just keep my eyes forward and focused on what I was doing. A pretty straightforward race for me, good launch and could go from there.
“This is awesome here. First win here in Mexico. A big thanks to all the fans.”
Then, Norris simply chuckled when the boos became audible. Regarding the title race, the 25-year-old added: “It’s one weekend at a time. I’m happy, focused on myself, keep my head down, it’s working at the minute.”
Norris is now one point ahead of Piastri and 36 ahead of Verstappen heading into the next race in Brazil on 8 November.
Asked in the press conference afterwards about the booing, Norris replied: “I don’t know why, to be honest. People can do what they want honestly, that is sport sometimes, I can’t stop laughing when I get booed,” Norris said.
“You don’t want it, I’d prefer if people cheer for me. Who knows? I just concentrate on doing my thing. If they want to continue they can.”
A local journalist put it to Norris that Mexican fans feel he has been aided by McLaren in his title fight with Piastri, after the Australian was ordered aside in Monza following a slow stop for his rival.
“Sure, if they want to think that they can do whatever they want,” he responded. “For us as a team we tried to do things fairly. Same with last year in Budapest – I let Oscar win the race he deserved to win.
“If they want to have the three points back, they can. Oscar deserved the win in Budapest, I deserved the win in Monza.”
