Fans booed Lando Norris in Mexico over Oscar Piastri treatment

Lando Norris was booed by the crowd at the Mexico City Grand Prix last weekend.

It happened during the victory celebrations in the famous stadium section after his dominant 2025 win.

And it happened again during the drivers' parade on race day.

Craig Slater, reporting for Sky Sports F1 from the grandstand, described the reception.

"Mixed boos and cheers, let's say, for Lando Norris," Slater said.

The booing was not as loud as it was 12 months prior at the same circuit.

But the fact that it returned at all signals that the fanbase has not moved on.

The source of the hostility traces back to the treatment of Norris's teammate, Oscar Piastri.

The most defining moment came at Monza in 2024.

Piastri was leading the Italian Grand Prix when McLaren called him in for a slow pit stop.

The stop dropped him behind Norris, who went on to win the race.

Piastri was then ordered to hand the position back to his teammate.

He did so without public complaint, but the incident left a lasting impression on fans.

Piastri lost only three points at Monza and finished the season 13 points behind Norris.

Mathematically, it was not decisive.

But symbolically, it became a flashpoint for accusations that McLaren favored Norris.

Piastri himself has consistently downplayed the significance of that moment.

Whenever the subject comes up, he says he was treated fairly last season.

But clearly, a section of the sport's fanbase still disagrees.

The tension resurfaced just last month at the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint.

Norris and Piastri collided during the race, putting McLaren's driver management back under scrutiny.

Norris was initially bullish in his response before later expressing regret.

That incident, however, pales in comparison to the Monza controversy.

To make matters worse for Norris in Mexico, his recent comments about Franco Colapinto may have inflamed the crowd.

Colapinto is one of four native Spanish speakers on the Formula 1 grid.

Norris called for Colapinto to be banned after their race-ending crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

He later apologized both publicly and privately.

But the damage with the Mexican crowd, which included many Spanish-speaking fans, may have been done.

The booing was concentrated in the stadium section of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

This is the same area where Norris was jeered in 2024.

Had the 2025 drivers' parade been broadcast live on the world feed, the incident would have received more attention.

Norris was spared that negative publicity by finishing outside the podium positions on race day.

But those present in the grandstands heard it clearly.

There was an assumption coming into this season that Piastri would fight for the title again.

McLaren did not deliver a competitive enough package for either driver to challenge consistently.

Piastri has also struggled individually with form and results.

But the underlying dynamic between the two drivers remains a sensitive topic for the team.

McLaren has publicly committed to equal treatment of its drivers.

Fans are watching closely to see whether that promise holds.

The booing in Mexico suggests that many are skeptical.

Piastri's own penalty situation at the same race added another layer to the weekend.

He finished seventh on track but was given a 10-second penalty for a collision with Arvid Lindblad.

The penalty dropped him to 13th, outside the points.

Piastri insisted after the race that he could not have done much more to avoid the crash.

He explained that Lindblad shut the door very late, forcing him to the outside.

"I tried to go up the inside actually, and then he shut the door very, very late," Piastri said.

"So I had to kind of avoid him and end up on the outside."

"I tried from there, and obviously he pushed me pretty wide, and at that point I knew I was not going to completely overtake."

"So I was trying to get out, but he pushed me so far wide that I couldn't go any further left, and we just interlocked wheels."

The stewards determined that Piastri had not claimed the right to the corner.

Under the current racing guidelines, the onus was on him to avoid contact.

Piastri acknowledged that the decision was tricky but maintained he was trying to concede the position when contact occurred.

The penalty cost him points in a season where McLaren needs every result it can get.

But the bigger story from Mexico was not the penalty.

It was the sound of a crowd expressing its discontent with Norris.

The booing is not an isolated incident.