McLaren F1 issue statement amid backlash over Donald Trump garage visit at Miami GP

McLaren have defended their decision to allow Donald Trump to visit their Miami Grand Prix team garage amid a barrage of criticism from fans.

Former US president Trump lives in Florida and was one of many famous faces spotted in the paddock ahead of Sunday's race. And he got the hospitality treatment from McLaren on a visit to the team's garage.

Images showed Trump inspecting Lando Norris ' car and chatting with staff. He also posed for photos with team chief executive Zak Brown in the pit lane outside the garage.

And one video showed him in deep conversation with Brown, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and Greg Maffei, president of F1's commercial rights holders Liberty Media.

McLaren's decision to welcome him into their garage was criticised by many fans online. One wrote: "It's not like Trump bought tickets to go to the GP. He was INVITED by a MAJOR team. Absolutely shameful by the whole McLaren organization."

And another complained: "So Trump is allowed to gee up a crowd and start political advertisements at a Grand Prix. Yet, when Vettel or Hamilton said/say something, they're told to shut it. Nice one, F1... What an embarrassing OG for McLaren."

Not everyone was upset to see him there, though, including some of the local fans in the grandstands. Some videos from the pit lane showed Trump leading chants of "USA, USA," with many in the crowd joining in.

But the level of criticism received by McLaren prompted the team to issue a statement explaining why the former president had been in their garage. The statement read: "McLaren is a non-political organisation however we recognise and respect the office of President of the United States.

"So when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted alongside the president of the FIA and the CEO’s of Liberty Media and Formula 1.

"We were honoured that McLaren Racing was chosen as the representative of F1 which gave us the opportunity to showcase the world class engineering that we bring to motorsport."