Barely a few race weekends earlier, Max Verstappen was hailed as the greatest Formula 1 hero by the Dutch fans at Zandvoort. Unsurprisingly, a sea of orange engulfed the entire circuit as Verstappen raced his way to the top of the podium on Sunday, and the visuals were nothing short of magnificent. However, fast-forward to the latest outing in Austin, the conditions were an absolute contrast to the Dutch Grand Prix.
Verstappen clinched what was the 50th race victory of his Formula 1 career, but, what followed was a rather disappointing podium celebration. Mexican fans swarmed the grandstand and made sure Verstappen endured a nightmarish podium celebration, as chants of “Checo” echoed across the circuit. What’s more, there were loud boos coming from the crowd when Verstappen received the race winner’s trophy.
A rather bitter experience indeed! Verstappen was one of the Red Bull individuals involved in the ugly Sergio Perez debacle. The Dutchman debunked a majority of Perez’s statements and more often than not, crushed his teammate’s will to challenge for race victories. Having engaged in such a one-sided rivalry over the last couple of years, the Mexican fans were obviously going to be unforgiving and the hate was almost inevitable.
But, Verstappen is enjoying the hostility and even managed to bite back at such demotivating group of F1 followers. The 25-year-old had a simple but powerful response to the Mexican crowd that made its presence known during the weekend at Circuit of The Americas. And if anything, this ugly warfare is going to get in less than a week’s time as we await the arrival of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
How did Max Verstappen react to angry Mexican fans?
Speaking to Via Play, Verstappen reckoned that regardless of the opposing from the fans, he is indeed the one carrying the big trophy home. During the short interaction about the hate from Mexican fans, the interviewer asked following the US Grand Prix, “When you were on the podium, I heard lots of booing. does it annoy you?”
“when u were on the podium … i heard lots of booing. does it annoy u?”
max: no. in the end, im the one taking the trophy home. so its fine with me!
“so next week, when its 10x worse than this, and u win it”
max: then ill still go home with the trophy, so its all good! pic.twitter.com/iZvbwxc5ML
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) October 22, 2023
Verstappen responded, “No. In the end, I’m the one taking the trophy home. so it’s fine with me!” The interviewer countered his response with another question, “So, next week when it’s ten times worse than this, and you win it…” Verstappen replied, “Then I’ll still go home with the trophy, so it’s all good!”
As the entire world anticipates a harsh weekend for Verstappen in Mexico, how is the reality going to be? How bad are the Mexican audiences going to treat the three-time world champion?