Schumacher fires Lando Norris 'bullying' accusations

Former F1 star Ralf Schumacher has hit out at an 'absurd' conspiracy theory which could explain why Lando Norris was booed at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.

The McLaren star took back the lead of the championship for the first time since April with his win in Mexico City, taking a dominant victory before getting loudly booed by fans during his post-race interview.

One journalist suggested in the post-race press conference that the booing appears to be a result of the perception that Norris is being 'handed' the title by team orders, from Zak Brown and other key McLaren figures.

Schumacher, speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast in the race's aftermath, hit out at the idea of Norris being given a championship advantage by his team, dismissing the concept in no uncertain terms.

Schumacher: Norris treatment 'almost bullying'

"That theory is really complete bulls***, sorry," he said. "Absurd. Lando then explained it very well himself.

"There's more going on here and I would almost say it amounts to bullying behaviour. I find it incredible what is being spread around in the media right now. So much nonsense is being circulated."

The German then added: “I want to say one thing about this and I heard it from a reliable source: Zak Brown doesn’t favour anyone, he doesn’t care. As long as one of his drivers wins the world title, the name doesn't matter. He’s a businessman. As nice as he may be, he is tough.”

For his part, Norris insisted that he was unfazed by the fan reaction, saying: "They have the right to do it if they want to do it. So I think that's the sport sometimes.

"I don't know why I can't stop laughing when I get booed. I think it makes it more entertaining for me. So yes, they can keep doing it if they want. Of course, you don't want it. I prefer to have people cheer for me."

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