Schumacher hopes smoke flares are 'kept at a minimum'

Mick Schumacher hopes the orange smoke flares let off by Max Verstappen's supporters will be kept at a minimum at Zandvoort after a cloud drifted on to the track at Spa and obscured a corner.

Verstappen's 'Orange Army' will be out in force this weekend for the Red Bull driver's home race and F1's first race at Zandvoort since 1985.

The fan group's presence was already widespread at Spa last week, and it made abundant usage of its popular colored flare cans, much to Schumacher's dislike.

"Everybody's looking forward to [the event]. Big support," said the Haas driver on Thursday.

"[But] I was going to say, I hope they're not as many flares because like in Spa, it just all came on to the track.

"It also smells very badly, and it sits in the cockpit all the time. So yeah, guys, keep it to a minimum please".

• Read also: Verstappen can't stop fans booing, but tells Hamilton 'don't listen'

Alpine's Esteban Ocon who was paired with Schumacher in the media conference also voiced his concern, saying "we couldn't see in one corner" at Spa.

Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel said he wasn't troubled by the antics of Verstappen's fans, and even hoped that he would "taste a lot of orange" this weekend.

As for Daniel Ricciardo, the McLaren driver isn't expecting Max's fans to be inactive in the grandstands.

"The Dutchies, they're always up for a good time," said the Aussie. "Seb said ‘tasting orange’, and I completely understood what he meant.

"I feel like the track is going to be covered in smoke a lot of the time with all the flare guns."

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