Sky F1 take ‘British bias’ stand as Brundle addresses Norris booing

Martin Brundle described the booing which Lando Norris faced at the Mexican Grand Prix as “bizarre”, fresh off returning to the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

But, with Brundle conceding that sports fans will “do what they feel, and so they should”, Sky F1 presenter Simon Lazenby quashed a leading theory surrounding the Norris booing, one of perceived McLaren favouritism towards Norris. Lazenby stressed that “British bias” from Sky F1 did not explain his resistance to that concept.

Martin Brundle on Lando Norris booing: ‘Odd that it was in Mexico’

Norris was in a class of his own in Mexico. The McLaren driver disappeared out front, winning by 30 seconds from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as Max Verstappen in the Red Bull completed the podium, keeping his title hopes alive.

As for Norris, his pursuit of a first Drivers’ Championship received a huge boost with that masterclass, as it returned him to the top of the standings. He leads the way by one point over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri with four grands prix and two sprints to go.

But, Norris’ achievement was not celebrated by all fans in attendance. Instead, as he spoke during the traditional post-race interviews with the top three, loud boos could be heard coming from the iconic stadium section directed towards Norris, boos which spilled over into the podium ceremony.

Sky F1 lead commentator David Croft claimed that “there were a few boos for Lando Norris” during the pre-race drivers’ parade too.

Brundle, the former racer turned Sky F1 analyst and co-commentator, admitted that he found the booing directed towards Norris “somewhat bizarre” after his dominant victory.

At that point in Sky’s ‘The F1 Show’ podcast, it was brought up to Brundle that one reporter in Mexico believed he had the answer, and put it directly to Norris in the post-race press conference.

It was suggested to Norris that he was booed because “basically people feel that you’re being given the championship.” Three points from Monza were brought up, after McLaren engineered an Italian GP position swap between Norris and Piastri.

Norris had been ahead on the road, but was pitted after Piastri, and fell victim to a slow pit-stop. That resulted in Norris coming out behind Piastri, and in the interest of fairness, McLaren asked Piastri to let Norris back through. He obliged, with Norris racing on to second.

Norris brought up the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he gave up a win to Piastri under McLaren team order, as a counter to the suggestion of McLaren favouritism sent his way.

Sky F1 podcast host Lazenby also shut down that theory, and the expected response.

“Lando answered it quite rightly, I suppose, with two years ago, he could have won the race in Hungary, but he gave the place back to Oscar Piastri to win that one,” said Lazenby.

“We get accused occasionally Martin of being British bias. We know we’re not. We are dealing with a British audience that we broadcast to. But, you know Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO], there is absolutely no way that anyone’s being favoured within that team.”

Brundle replied: “Well, first of all, it wasn’t three points, because it’s six, because you’ve got a swap around in that respect.

“But, I think McLaren will take the brunt of that, because I think they didn’t manage the message well post-Monza. And for me, it was an absolute no brainer to switch them back.

“It’s just odd that it was in Mexico. But I learned a very, very long time ago, you do not tell fans what to think, or what to or not to say. They will do what they feel. And so they should.

“If he’d have had Sergio Perez off in the first corner three consecutive years, or something, I could have understood it in Mexico.

“So, I think that’s just a misunderstanding of the situation, and somebody asking a specific question, because it didn’t make a lot of sense otherwise.

“I’ve been, when we used to do the interviews on the podium that I did for quite a lot of years, I’ve been up there with Nico [Rosberg] getting booed. I’ve been up there with Sebastian Vettel getting booed. And it’s quite something. It’s quite powerful. It’s quite off-putting.

“But that’s the nature of sports fans. They’ll do what they want and they’ll do what they feel like. But it seems that one was particularly kind of stirred up somehow.”

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1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, who was on Sky F1 punditry duties in Mexico, was also left scratching his head in regards to the booing of Norris.

“That was odd, because I don’t remember booing in our days Martin, for some reason, or we just were deaf and didn’t hear them,” he said. “But it was an odd one because it didn’t make any sense.

“And in Mexico, you know, British driver against an Australian in Mexico. Why should they care? There was no reason for it.”

Stating his agreement with Brundle on Monza, that McLaren’s switcheroo “did make sense”, Villeneuve said that it is clear what Norris must do to silence that particular narrative.

“The only thing he needs to do is to win by more than six points over his teammate,” Villeneuve stated, “and nobody will care.”

Norris and Piastri do not have the luxury of an all-McLaren battle for the Drivers’ crown, as Verstappen once more whittled down his deficit to top spot in Mexico. He is now 36 points behind Norris.

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