Max Verstappen was booed and jeered by a large section of spectators at the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Dutchman won the race comfortably to cap off what has been a dominant season from his perspective. He ran away with the drivers' title, while Red Bull were also champions in the constructors' standings by a significant margin over nearest rivals Ferrari.
Verstappen's win at the Yas Marina Circuit came as little surprise given he looked comfortably the fastest man out there all weekend. But he wasn't the most popular for sure, as evidenced when he stepped up to the microphone for his post-race interview.
As he was handed the microphone by interviewer Jenson Button, fans seemed split between applauding and booing him. But despite that frosty reception, he seemed unmoved as he answered questions with no reference at all to those boos.
"It was a good race, all about tyre management," he said. "I think we looked after the mediums quite well, and then on the hard tyres, it was about managing from lap one to the end. But it was incredible to win here again, and 15 wins in the season is unbelievable.
"It's been really enjoyable to work with the whole team to achieve something like this this year. I know it's going to be hard to replicate something like this, but it's also really good motivation to try to do something again next year."
Predictably, there was a much warmer reception for Sebastian Vettel. He stepped up to the microphone fresh from completing some doughnuts in his Aston Martin and waving farewell to the crowd after finishing 10th in his final ever Formula 1 race.
"The last two years have been disappointing from a sporting point of view but very useful and important to me, in my life," said Vettel. "A lot of things happened, that made me realise it's a huge privilege being in the position that we are in, and with that comes some responsibility.
"I hope to pass that on a little bit to the other drivers, to carry on some of the good work. It's good to see we have the power to inspire [the fans] with what we do and what we say. I think there are far more important things than racing in circles, but it's what we love to do and if we can transfer some of the important values, that's big."
