Max Verstappen will be expecting a hostile reception when he arrives for the British Grand Prix this weekend.

The defending champion has been in unstoppable form this season, winning the last five successive races to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship.

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But Silverstone has been a less than favourable track for Verstappen, having only won once on British soil since his first outing in 2015.

Last year’s British GP is one of just TWO races out of the previous 22 that Verstappen has failed to finish on the podium.

The Dutchman suffered car damage early on in Northamptonshire to finish a lowly seventh but worse was the reaction he received.

Why is Verstappen being booed at the British GP?

The two-time world champion’s negative reaction from the Silverstone crowd is due to his rivalry with home hero Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen infamously crashed out of the 2021 British Grand Prix following a huge first-lap smash with Hamilton.

The crash put an end to his three-race winning run and allowed Hamilton to seize victory and truly set the 2021 title race alight.

The controversy and fallout saw seven-time world champion Hamilton booed two weeks later at the Hungary Grand Prix.

That season ultimately culminated in a controversial finish in Abu Dhabi that saw Verstappen win his maiden title on the final lap.

Just over seven months later British F1 fans voiced their frustration at Hamilton being denied by loudly booing Verstappen at Silverstone.

Some of the hostility may also be due to the racist slurs from Verstappen’s girlfriend’s father, Nelson Piquet, directed at Hamilton – despite Verstappen himself publicly defending the Brit.

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Hamilton has called on British fans to stop booing his Red Bull rival.

“I think we’re better than that. I would say we don’t need to do booing,” he said last year.

“We’ve got such great fans. Our sporting fans, they feel emotions up and down. But I don’t I definitely don’t agree with booing. I don’t think we need to do that.

“We should be here, pushing everybody. I really do appreciate the support that I have here. Maybe some of them are feeling the pain from last year still. Either way, I appreciate it.”

However, Verstappen himself is unfazed, saying: “If they want to boo, they do that. For me, it’s not going to change anything.

“Maybe some of them don’t like me, but that’s fine. They all have their own opinions. I don’t care.”