Why Max Verstappen was booed by fans despite 50th Formula One victory

Max Verstappen was heavily booed by fans despite 50th Formula One victory. The 26-year-old celebrated a remarkable 50th F1 victory at the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen reached the remarkable milestone in Austin after a great drive from sixth on the grid. The three-time champion however found himself under immense pressure from Sir Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages.

‘The whole race, I was struggling a lot with the brakes. Around here there are quite a few braking points,’ Verstappen said post-race.

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‘I couldn’t really have the same feeling as yesterday [in the Sprint] so that definitely made my race a bit tougher out here today. It was very close at the end and also with the backmarkers, the tyres are already going so it makes it more difficult.

‘It’s incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here. Very proud of course and we will keep on trying to push for more.’

Verstappen’s victory celebration was however somewhat dampened. The Dutchman was booed by fans as he walked onto the podium and received his trophy.

The booing may be attributed to the strong contingent of Mexican fans at the Circuit of the Americas. These fans are supporters of Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez. There were plenty of chants of ‘Checo!’ (Perez’s nickname) after the chequered flag.

Perez has been under significant pressure this season. This is largely due to his underwhelming performances compared to his teammate.

And Red Bull chief Helmut Marko stance in constantly criticizing Perez may have infuriated the Mexican fans. Though Marko was also forced to apologise after making xenophobic comments towards his own driver. This was an incident that has damaged the team’s reputation significantly.

Verstappen is only the fifth driver in history to reach a half-century of wins. This feat is after Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost.

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With four races of the season remaining, Verstappen has the chance to surpass both Prost’s (51) and Vettel’s (53) tally before the year is out.