Lando Norris booing ‘pretty poor’ as ex-McLaren driver quashes theory

For Lando Norris to be booed after winning the Mexican Grand Prix in dominant fashion was a “pretty poor” move.

That is the opinion of Sam Bird, the former McLaren Formula E racer and ex-Mercedes F1 test driver. Bird linked the adverse reaction towards Norris to a perception which he has picked up on within the F1 fanbase, one of perceived McLaren favouritism towards Norris. Bird does not see any evidence of that.

McLaren favouring Lando Norris? Sam Bird does not think so

Norris was in a class of his own at the Mexican Grand Prix. Once the lead had been returned after various instances of corner cutting behind, Norris ditched the competition, and raced on to victory, 30 seconds up the road from P2 Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Leclerc were joined by Max Verstappen on the podium, but before that, the top three took part in the usual post-race interviews. This one took place in front of the iconic stadium section at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

While the reactions for Leclerc and Verstappen were positive, Norris was met with a chorus of boos. After collecting himself in the face of that hostility, Norris said: “It’s one weekend at a time. So, you know, I’m happy. I’m focused on myself. I keep my head down, I ignore all of this, and, yeah, I keep to myself, and it’s working at the minute. So I’m happy.”

Norris’ performance in Mexico saw him re-take the Drivers’ Championship lead by a single point over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who crossed the line fifth.

The booing directed towards Norris after his achievement did not sit well with compatriot Bird.

“So the fans in Mexico, are super passionate, and they’re great,” Bird began on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast. “They come out in their hundreds of thousands every year to support the sport that we love.

“But, I thought that that was pretty poor, to be honest. The guy has just put on an absolute masterclass, decimated the field, won by over 30 seconds, and he gets booed. I thought that that was poor.”

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Social media has been abuzz recently with fans claiming that McLaren has shown favouritism towards Norris over Piastri in the title race.

Bird does not agree.

“I think it’s to do with, there’s some people, who are fans of motorsport, that feel like Lando might be getting preferential treatment within the McLaren family,” Bird continued in response to the booing of Norris.

“I don’t see that at all. I simply see a guy that’s made a better job of it in the last four races, and that’s it.

“So I think booing a guy that’s just put on a masterclass was wrong.”

Norris was quizzed on the reaction of the Mexican GP fans as he took part in the post-race press conference. There, it was suggested to him by a reporter that “basically people feel that you’re being given the championship”, especially the three points from Monza, hence the booing.

There, McLaren had asked Piastri to let Norris back through after Norris was pitted second, despite being ahead on the track, and suffered a slow stop which meant Piastri had jumped ahead of his teammate and title rival. Piastri obliged, and Norris finished one position ahead in second.

To that wild claim sent his way, Norris retorted: “Sure. If they want to think that, then they certainly have the right to. They can think whatever they want.

“Yeah. I guess from us as a team, of course, we try and do things fairly. That was the comment we made back then. The same with two years ago in Budapest when I could have won the race and had to let Oscar back through and let him win a race he deserved to win.

“It was no different to that really. It was an incorrect decision that we made as a team to box him first and, or me first here.

“And, yeah, to be honest, if you want to have the three points, they can. But they have the right to think whatever they want.

“But, yeah, like Oscar deserved the win last year in Budapest, I deserve to be ahead at Monza.

“Simple as that.”

Four grands prix and two sprints remain in F1 2025, with Norris arguably having established himself as the new title favourite after Mexico.

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