Ex-Dutch F1 Driver Demands Respect for Lewis Hamilton Amidst the Booing Post-Qualifying at Zandvoort

Earlier in Hungary when Lewis Hamilton raced his way to pole position, there was massive booing arriving from a section of Orange army in the main grandstands. Hence, conditions were always going to be tough for the 7-time world champion at Max Verstappen’s home Grand Prix in the Netherlands.

And unsurprisingly, Hamilton received a gloomy welcome from the Dutch fans after the Briton lined himself up alongside Verstappen at Zandvoort. Following the highly interruptive session, Giedo van der Garde showed up on the parc ferme to interview the top 3 finishers.

Verstappen received a wild roar from the Dutch army, but then arrived Hamilton. The applause subsided, giving way to a massive level of booing, which ultimately pushed Van der Garde to demand the fans to show some respect.

What did the interviewer say?

Van der Garde, as the post-qualifying interviewer, shot his first question to Hamilton. However, the Briton could hardly respond amidst the hate around him. Soon, Van der Garde intervened and said, “Come on guys, come on.”

The fact that the Dutchman had the urge to step up led one of the fans to laud his intervention on social media. And Van der Garde responded to the fan’s comment. “One of the biggest athlete doesn’t deserve booing. Period,” he wrote on Twitter.

Nevertheless, Hamilton continued to speak about the Orange army despite the significant amount of hate being shot at him. He said, “I really wanna say a big thank you to all the Orange fans here, you know, the Dutch fans.

“What an amazing venue! What an amazing track! I really appreciate the welcome. There are great sporting fans here. And it’s just been good. I really appreciate it.”

Can Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen for the win?

The pace difference between Red Bull and Mercedes was quite far off through most parts of the qualifying session. However, in the very end, Hamilton managed to bring the margin down to less than 0.1s despite the fact that Verstappen posted an impeccable lap time on board.

Hence, it looks like Mercedes do have the pace to challenge Red Bull at Zandvoort. But, it does seem quite impossible to hope for the win through overtaking on the track, considering the fact that the circuit offers pretty much no room for racing wheel-to-wheel.

So, Mercedes will be hoping to get a good start at lights out on Sunday followed by strategies that could outsmart the Red Bull think tank.

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