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4-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen was recently subjected to jeers from the British crowd at the O2 arena. The polarising figure addressed the boos and had a typical Vertasppen-like reaction to it. Along with Max, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also endured the hostility from the crowd.
F1's governing body, FIA, condemned the reaction while standing up for Horner and Verstappen for "contributing greatly to the sport we love."
Infuriated by the boos towards his son, Verstappen's father suggested Max to boycott future season launches in England. Horner on the other end labelled the reaction to his driver as "disappointing"
Asked about the reception he received in London on the second day of testing in Bahrain, Verstappen said: "Was there any booing? Maybe I'm deaf. I don't need to really talk about it. It's not worth my time."
Noting the episode, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated that he believes the jeering was largely directed at Horner rather than Verstappen.
"We were all surprised about the amount of booing that happened, particularly to one individual," said Wolff.
"That was big and bad. It's his (Horner's) home turf and still Christian got these boos. Boos shouldn't be in the sport, but in my opinion, that wasn't directed at Max. That came as a consequence of what happened before."
Verstappen has been dominating at the circuit since the last four years, capturing the World Championship each time in the last four years. Red Bull on the other hand have conquered two of the last four World Constructors' championships.
His father, Jos, believes that that his success and his direct manner is the reason the English public booed the Red Bull driver.
"Max doesn’t feel like being booed in front of 25,000 people. He also says: ‘If this is in England again next year, they certainly won’t see me there,’ and I completely agree with him,' said Jos to RaceXpress.
"You are there for Formula 1 to promote the sport a little bit and all. Then you are booed by the public. I think that is unacceptable.
"Look, I understand it. Max is the only one who puts the English drivers under pressure and who tells it exactly how it is, but I think it is unacceptable and a real disappointment what happened there.
'In itself I thought it was a reasonable set-up, but I thought it was embarrassing what happened there with Red Bull Racing, that Horner was booed so much."
