Lando Norris may have won the Mexican Grand Prix, but not everyone in the crowd was pleased to see him celebrate. Throughout the weekend, and especially after the race, the McLaren driver was met with boos from sections of the grandstands. Many people in the Formula 1 paddock were surprised and unsure at first about why the reaction was so negative.

It was later explained by local journalists that the crowd’s displeasure came from an earlier moment in the season. During the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, McLaren asked Oscar Piastri to let Norris overtake after a slow pit stop had dropped the British driver behind his teammate. The team order allowed Norris to take second place and helped him in the championship, but it angered some fans who felt it was unfair.

A Mexican magazine called Fast Mag ran a poll asking whether Norris was being gifted the title because of that decision. The poll reflected a growing view among some supporters that McLaren favoured Norris over Piastri. When he arrived in Mexico, that frustration was still fresh, and many fans showed it by booing him in the stadium section of the track.

Norris said after the race that the reaction did not upset him. Speaking to the media after the Grand Prix, he, quoted by Motorsport Week, said with a smile: “I like sour sweets. I don’t know why they boo, to be honest. People can do what they want. They have the right to do it.

“It’s sport sometimes. I can’t stop laughing when I get booed. It makes it more entertaining for me.” He added that while he preferred to be cheered, he tried not to let it affect his focus.

When asked whether he understood the complaints about the Monza team order, Norris said McLaren had done nothing wrong. He told Fast Mag journalist Carlos Jalife that the team acted fairly.

“If people want to think that, they have the right to. From our side, we try to do things fairly. Two years ago in Budapest I let Oscar win a race he deserved to win, so this was no different. I deserved to be ahead in Monza. Simple as that.”