Lewis Hamilton insists it is mind-blowing to think that fans cheered his crash during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
The Brit and his Mercedes made it in the final part of qualifying and were setting a hot lap when the seven-time world champion lost control going round turn 7. His career skidded in the gravel and he was powerless to stop it slamming into the barriers.
Max Verstappen, Hamilton's rival and the man with whom he had a heated battle for the world title last season, enjoys an immensely strong following at the Austrian track, which is owned by his team, Red Bull. The Dutch grandstand, which can always be spotted covered in orange, got a first-hand view of Hamilton's crash.
Sounds of them cheering were backed up by images of fans celebrating the Brit's issue, but that has not gone down well with Hamilton. He urged his home fans not to boo Verstappen at Silverstone last weekend and is concerned by the reaction to his crash.
“I didn't hear them during [the accident], I mean, I was going through a bunch of stuff in the crash,” he said. "But to hear it afterwards, you know, I don't agree or condone any of that no matter what. A driver could have been in hospital. And you're going to cheer that? I mean, it's just mind-blowing that people will do that, just knowing how dangerous our sport is.
“And I'm grateful that I wasn't in hospital, and I wasn't heavily injured, but you should never cheer someone's downfall or someone's injury or crash. It shouldn't have happened in Silverstone, even though it wasn't obviously a crash, and it shouldn't have happened here.”
Hamilton ended up starting Saturday's sprint race in ninth, finishing in eighth after eventually getting past the Haas of Mick Schumacher. That leaves him someway behind the leaders ahead of Sunday's main race with teammates George Russell lining up in fourth.
Speaking after the sprint Hamilton was relatively coy, citing their pace disadvantage. He said: "I didn't learn anything necessarily... except that we're slower than the Haas on the straights! We've got to wait to get out of the DRS train [tomorrow] to try and reposition our car."
"It's disappointing," claimed Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "We are just lacking pace here, contrary to what we had in the previous races where we were really good on Sunday. Here, somehow, it didn't go."
