British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton calls on fans to stop booing on the podium after Nico Rosberg gets jeered
Both Hamilton and Rosberg have been jeered over the past two grand prixs and the reigning Formula 1 champion believes he could face the same at Hockenheim
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Your support makes all the difference.Lewis Hamilton has called on fans to stop booing drivers when they appear on the podium after his Mercedes teammate and championship rival Nico Rosberg was jeered following the British Grand Prix, a week after Hamilton faced a similar response in Austria.
The championship battle between the pair could not be closer, with just a point separating leader Rosberg from three-time world champion Hamilton as they head to Hungary in under two weeks’ time. It’s a track that Hamilton has enjoyed racing at, having won more times than any other driver bar Michael Schumacher who can match his record of four wins, and he is fully aware that he can leave the Hungaroring with the championship lead in the bag.
Yet the division between the Mercedes teammates has grown rapidly in the last two months, stemming from their first-lap collision in Barcelona that took them both out of the race, and further collisions in Canada and Austria have not helped repair that relationship.
The latter nearly resulted in team orders being imposed, while Hamilton faced a fierce response from the partisan Austrian-German crowd when he took to the top step of the Red Bull Ring podium. After seeing Rosberg receive the same treatment in Silverstone, Hamilton believes it’s time to put a stop to it.
"I tried to calm them down because it's been such a great day that I feel like we're better than that," Hamilton said after clinching his 47th career victory.
Hamilton accepted that seeing the Silverstone faithful support him so passionately was inspiring to have behind him, but accepted that it isn’t a good thing to see – something that former Red Bull driver Mark Webber highlighted while carrying out the podium interviews.
"You have to understand that they're mad, passionate fans, and they feel like something wasn't right in the last race. I imagine maybe when we get to Germany we will have the same thing, but I hope not because in sport it is not the done thing."
Before the Formula 1 circus arrives at Hockenheim, it ventures to Hungary where Hamilton will be the favourite to take victory on a track notoriously difficult to pass on, providing he can stretch his run of pole positions to three.
Hamilton believes that after his early season struggles with a series of reliability woes, he has finally found his groove to take the fight to Rosberg. Those engine troubles in the opening months of the season are likely to come back and bite him later in the season in the form of a 10-place grid penalty should he need a sixth power unit, but for now the 31-year-old insists he is “firing on all cylinders”.
"I'm really, really happy because it is so easy to come into this weekend with the wrong energy, whether it is nerves, or if you listen to all the negativity that surrounded me," Hamilton said.
"But to arrive feeling fresh, feeling powerful, feeling strong and confident, and then to deliver, is what I plan to do every weekend.
"On the Monday and Tuesday I was in a beautiful place. I was by the beach, by the sea, and I felt fresh, (I had) plenty of sleep, good vibes, good food and good people and that started me out on the best week I have had all year, without a doubt.
"With the last race and now this race, the fire is fully lit, so I'm firing on all cylinders and hopefully this will continue."
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