Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton plays down Mexico GP boos after coming ‘so close’ to first win of season

Lewis Hamilton said he had ‘so much love for Mexico’ despite the boos he received from some of the crowd.

The Mercedes man had been jeered by some of the spectators over the course of the weekend, with at least some of the antipathy likely because of the home support for Sergio Perez.

Mexican driver Perez rides for Red Bull, the team of world champion Max Verstappen, a long-standing rival of the seven-time world champion.

Verstappen is champion once again and secured another victory on Sunday despite one of Hamilton’s strongest performances of the 2022 season.

A questionable tyre strategy meant that the Dutchman was relatively comfortable from the off, as Hamilton’s challenge faded over the course of the race.

There are two races left in the Formula 1 calendar for Mercedes to grab a win, either through Hamilton or his teammate George Russell, but Verstappen is hoping to add more to his record-breaking 14 wins already set this season.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Hamilton was not overly concerned by the booing he had been receiving and praised the hosts for their enthusiasm for the event as a whole.

“This has been an amazing crowd, definitely a bit awkward this time around with boos all day. But, nevertheless I have so much love for Mexico and for the people here. What a great race and an event they’ve put on this weekend,” he said.

He was disappointed though with his failure to push Verstappen harder earlier in the race, when the pace between the two was more similar, before the Red Bull man started to pull away more decisively.

“I was so close in that first stint but I think the Red Bull was clearly too fast today and ultimately, maybe they had the better tyre strategy,” he suggested.

“I’m not sure (the hard) was the right tyre at the end. I thought we should have started on the soft but obviously we had the opposite tyre. It was okay in the first stint but that hard tyre was just an offset.

“Congratulations to Max, it’s great to be up here and separate the two.”