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Max Verstappen's fans and other F1 enthusiasts recently reacted to the battle between the Dutchman and Lewis Hamilton at the start of the 2021 F1 Emilia Romagna GP.
As the 2023 F1 Emilia Romagna GP approaches, the social media department of F1 is hyping the upcoming race weekend through various content. They have been posting videos of some of the most intense race starts in Imola over the past few years.
Recently, the F1 social media team posted the race start for one of the most intense years in the sport's recent history - the 2021 F1 season. At the start of the Emilia Romagna GP, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had an extremely close and intense wheel-to-wheel battle as they approached the chicanes of turns one and two.
Verstappen was on the inside line, while Hamilton was on the outside when they approached turn one almost at the same time. Verstappen kept driving on the racing line, forcing Hamilton off the track. The seven-time world champion experienced lots of bumps while riding the curbs and somehow prevented himself from slipping and spinning out.
Since Max Verstappen versus Lewis Hamilton is probably the most controversial and intense rivalry in recent history, most fans had quite polarizing reactions as to who was at fault in the 2021 F1 Emilia Romagna GP.
Some people supported the Dutchman and praised him for making such a bold move.
"People complaining about Verstappen not getting a penalty have 0 wheel knowledge. He's ahead going into the braking zone and it's very difficult to perfectly calculate leaving enough space to go side by side with heavy fuel on a wet track in a tight chicane like that," one fan tweeted.
On the other hand, there were several fans who criticized Verstappen for not leaving any space for Hamilton. They pointed towards the Red Bull driver's incident with George Russell in the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP sprint race and how Verstappen was angry if any driver did not leave enough space for him.
"Think you call that forcing another driver off the track which let’s face it happens a lot with Max," one fan tweeted.
Max Verstappen not affected by fans booing at him after he wins a race
Max Verstappen is well aware that he is not the most loved F1 driver simply because he is dominating the sport. Hence, he has been subjected to a lot of booing from fans when he wins races at certain venues.
However, he recently stated that he is not affected by it and will continue to work hard and push himself to consistently win.
In a post-race press conference after the 2023 F1 Miami GP, he said:
“If I am driving at the back nobody will be doing anything in terms of a reaction. It is normal when you are winning, and they don’t like who is winning. This is something that is absolutely fine for me as long as I stand on the top step of the podium. That is the most important thing. I take the trophy home, and they can go back to their houses and have a nice evening.”
Max Verstappen is currently leading the drivers' championship table with 119 points.
