Italian GP: Wolff Regrets the Boos Against Rosberg

Already booed and jeered on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he clashed with Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg once again faced the ire of part of the crowd, this time in Monza, when receiving his trophy for second place.

Another sign of the decline in popularity of the German driver was the roar of the tifosi at the moment of his mistake, which allowed his teammate to pass him and soar to victory.

For Toto Wolff, the executive director of Mercedes, the attitude of the fans is not good: “There should be no booing or jeering on the podium. These are the top three who have had a great race, and whoever they may be, they shouldn’t do that,” he explained to Autosport. “It’s sport, and sport should unify. But all these guys have fans; some of them are very emotional.”

This emerging situation is reminiscent of the 2013 season during which Sebastian Vettel was frequently booed on the many podiums he stepped on, largely due to the Malaysian Grand Prix where he did not follow the team order to hold positions and overtook Mark Webber. In recent history, there have been occasional strong displays of public disapproval such as in Austria in 2002, where Rubens Barrichello, on Ferrari’s orders, let Michael Schumacher pass in the final straight, or in the United States in 2005, where only six cars participated in the Grand Prix after the withdrawal of the Michelin-equipped cars.

Wolff believes one must be strong to withstand such displays of hostility: « Does it affect you? Yes. So I think you have to be very strong. I don’t even want to think about being booed, but maybe it’s something you have to get over to be at the top. »

For the Austrian, the championship leader has the necessary mental strength to bounce back after a weekend where he was generally outperformed by his teammate: « I think mentally he is very strong and if you want to be World Champion, you have to go through ups and downs. Lewis has had many and he came back, and we saw Nico come back after Silverstone. »

« You need extreme mental strength to last until the end of the championship. Both have it in them to bounce back after each weekend. Before the incident at Spa, they took turns. One had a good weekend and the other did not, neither having any real setback, » he concluded.

As a reminder, Nico Rosberg is leading the championship with 238 points, which is a 22-point lead over Lewis Hamilton. There are six Grand Prix remaining this season, with 175 points available, as the last one in Abu Dhabi features double points.