Lewis Hamilton declared "it's not my job" to make Formula 1 more interesting as Max Verstappen claimed he was only booed at the Miami Grand Prix because he and his team are dominating the championship.
Organisers of the race tried a new pre-race show in Miami, introducing the drivers to the crowd one by one. THe crowd responded with varying enthusiasm to each driver with home hero Logan Sargeant and Mexican racer Sergio Perez among those greeted with the loudest cheers.
There were plenty supporting Verstappen as his name was read out by rapper LL Cool J. But a smattering of boos could also be heard from the grandstands – possibly linked to Miami's large Hispanic community which would most likely have been cheering for Perez to win.
After beating his Red Bull team-mate to victory, Verstappen explained his theory as to why some chose to boo his name. "If I am driving at the back, nobody will be doing anything in terms of a reaction," he said.
"It is normal when you are winning and they don't like who is winning. This is something which is absolutely fine for me as long as I stand on the top step of the podium. That is the most important thing. I take the trophy home and they can go back to their houses and have a nice evening."
The race itself was relatively uneventful. Despite the strong winds making it tricky for the drivers in some braking zones, not one of the 20 racers crashed or was forced to retire. And that came a week after a dull Azerbaijan Grand Prix during which overtaking was at a premium.
Hamilton said he could "understand" why some fans are upset, given the lack of exciting racing action in the past couple of weeks. He explained: "It's not my job to convince people to watch a sport. I'm not watching so it's not boring for me.
"But as a fan watching, I can understand because it's not as competitive as maybe the NFL or the NBA at the moment. As a sport [F1] has tried to bring the teams closer but it never seems to work. All I can say is that we're working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them more of a fight.
"It's just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between the teams. I don't know what the solution is for the future, but we are going to have to adapt to these regulations. Otherwise it could be the same as it is now for years."
