A banner flew overhead in support of Lewis Hamilton. ‘7 X WDC,’ it recorded of the Englishman’s record of success. ‘Simply lovely. #TeamLH.’
The message was arranged by a fan who paid £1,600 for the plane, a nice gesture but a lonely one at the North Sea resort of Zandvoort that is strictly enemy territory for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen is the sporting idol of Holland and his fans are cramming the coastal town, population normally 17,000 but swelled by 70,000 visitors a day.
British driver Lewis Hamilton (above) has divided opinion among Formula One fans
However, one fans decided to share his support for Hamilton by paying for a banner (above) to fly overhead saying ‘7 X WDC,’ as it recorded of the Englishman’s record of success
The train timetable has been altered with a special service running every six minutes from Amsterdam Central to the local station 25 miles away that has not seen excitement like this since it opened its doors in 1881.
An orange-shirted stream then runs to the famous old track to see the driver whose aggressive racing style and straightforward demeanour play perfectly with his public.
This man of the people will be honoured by his king when Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima call into the paddock to say hello before Sunday's race. It is just the kind of hoopla at which Verstappen would shrug his shoulders.
Another unexpected caller will be his dad Jos, a former team-mate of Michael Schumacher at Benetton, who had vowed to stay away in a conscious attempt to avoid the clamour. But he changed his mind and was said to be travelling here last night to witness this slice of family history.
Hamilton has promised to turn the boos into motivation - like he did in Brazil in 2007 and 2008
The home crowd were rooting for Felipe Massa (pictured above) over Hamilton in Brazil
Meanwhile, his son at the centre of the focus is staying at a secluded and secret hideaway. He took a scooter into the paddock on Friday, his helmet on, keeping as low a profile as possible, making his journey as fast as he could.
The big question is which of Lewis and Max will cope better with the contrasting pressures they are each under?
Hamilton has promised to turn the boos into motivation. He has experienced similar hostility before, in Brazil in 2007 and 2008, when whistles rained down from the stand on the start straight as the home crowd rooted for Felipe Massa.
As for Verstappen, he sampled a taste of the adulation he will receive here at Belgium last weekend, when the diehards stayed on through the endless drizzle to witness his ‘victory’ in the delayed two-lap farce.
Christian Horner, his Red Bull team principal, said: ‘Max keeps himself very much to
