Lando Norris intervenes as British Grand Prix fans turn on Max Verstappen

Lando Norris has defended Max Verstappen after the Red Bull star was booed by fans at the British Grand Prix. The McLaren driver came to the aid of his friend on the pre-race driver parade as boos reigned on Verstappen from the grandstands.

Issuing a warning to the spectators, Norris said: “No boo’s, no boo’s, Max is a lovely guy.” It comes just days after Verstappen opened up on how he is unaffected by booing fans.

The Dutchman has become a pantomime villain among British supporters after his high-drama feud with Lewis Hamilton in 2021. At Silverstone. Verstappen told The Mail: “Luckily I sit in a car, I have a helmet on and go at 200mph, so it makes no difference

“I have a lot of British friends and people I know, and not everyone wants to boo me. I have a lot of respect for Lewis. We are both racing drivers and you let the animosity go.”

Verstappen’s dominance in recent races hasn’t helped the situation with the 25-year-old appearing to be a three-time champion in waiting. Fans made their feelings clear at the end of Q3 with Silverstone’s cheers silenced as Verstappen pipped Norris to pole in the dying seconds.

Ahead of the weekend, Norris opened up on his close relationship with Verstappen away from the track. He admitted the duo sometimes go for dinner together but stressed they didn’t text every day.

He told talkSPORT: “I think me and Max are very good friends, I guess we’ve grown up, not exactly together as we didn’t fully race until Formula One, but we’ve grown up in a similar generation and similar time.

“Certain mentalities are similar, in terms of we’re here because we love it, we want to enjoy every minute in the paddock driving cars that we love to drive but as soon as you put the helmet on you forget about everything else.”

Norris and McLaren were the surprise package on Saturday with the Briton set to line-up on the front row of the grid. Oscar Piastri will start just behind in third, ahead of both Ferrari’s and the Mercedes duo.

Verstappen was complimentary of McLaren’s success but highlighted the weather as having played a role. He added: “We did our laps and then, in Q3, I was quite surprised to see [Norris and Piastri] there, but it’s great for McLaren as well to be here. From our side, very happy, of course, to be on pole!”