It was certainly an interesting first day at Silverstone as Mercedes, and Lewis Hamilton shined. But it was weird to see the British fans booing world champion and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

Although it was expected that Silverstone would be a hostile environment for the Dutch driver, the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned that is never nice to hear booing for any drivers. However, he provided an insight into how Verstappen is reacting to the lack of support.

“Of course, Lewis is going to have huge support here. Next weekend is another home race for us in Austria and I am sure we are going to have huge support with 30,000 Dutch fans there so that is sport. That is competition.”

“It is never nice to hear boos for any driver and it is unusual for a British GP crowd to do that because they usually appreciate all drivers but, you know what, it is something he accepts. Lewis is their favorite driver here, I have no issue with that,” said the Red Bull team boss.

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There might be a couple of reasons for the hate towards the F1 champion. He and Hamilton shared a very intense title fight last season, but currently, the 24-year-old is facing the wrath of Nelson Piquet’s comments about the 7-time world champion.

Verstappen is currently in a relationship with Piquet’s daughter and gave a mixed response about the recent racism accusations against the Brazilian.

World champion Max Verstappen analyzes his Friday running in Silverstone

Verstappen insisted that he believes that the 3-time world champion is not a racist. The Red Bull driver has a personal connection with Piquet and might know him better than most people.

“I’ve spent a bit of time with Nelson, and he’s definitely not a racist and he’s actually a really nice and relaxed guy. The statement he released, you can see the word in two ways but I think it’s still better not to use it. It’s not only about that word, using offensive language to anyone, any colour, is not correct. That’s to anyone in the world, not just to Lewis specifically,” said Verstappen.

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It is not surprising to see Verstappen defending Piquet in this manner. But it is clear that he does not support his statement one bit and stands against racism and with Hamilton on this issue.