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Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff says “we need to educate people” after there were audible crowd cheers when Lewis Hamilton crashed in the final part of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying.
Hamilton was chasing Mercedes’ first front row start of the 2022 season when he lost control of his Mercedes W13 on the exit of the Turn 7 left-hander and skated across the gravel and into the barrier in Q3.
Hamilton's qualifying ends in the barriers 💥😖#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/vue7GDQYJm
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022
The crash curtailed his qualifying efforts and will leave him 10th on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.
When Hamilton went off the circuit and into the barriers, cheers from the crowd – largely, but not exclusively, made up of Max Verstappen fans, given Austria’s proximity to the Netherlands – could be heard.
Wolff initially said he “didn’t hear or see it” but when told of the cheering by Sky Sports F1 said: “I think we just need to speak more to the fans that are cheering when the car is in the wall or booing a driver that gives an interview.
“It’s not what we would do with our competitors or enemies even though you can think we would have some animosity out there.
“So nobody should actually do it, we need to collectively with F1, and you guys [the media], educate people.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “It’s great to be back in Austria, the team love racing here and the support we get is incredible, passion is great but shouldn’t spill over into jeers at our opponents.”
It’s not the first time that the subject of crowds jeering when drivers crash has taken the spotlight.
For example last year at Silverstone, there was plenty of discussions after fans cheered when Verstappen was sent into the gravel trap after he collided with Hamilton in the British GP.
Wolff’s mention of booing was also in reference to how Verstappen was received by the British GP crowd after qualifying second at Silverstone last weekend. Hamilton faced a similar experience at last year’s Dutch GP as well.
Hamilton said he was feeling “OK” after his qualifying crash but was “incredibly disappointed in myself”.
“So sorry to the team, everyone worked so hard to put this car together, and I never like to bring it back damaged,” he said after qualifying.
“We were fighting for a top three, I think. I don’t have an answer for it, I just lost the back end into Turn 7.”
His team-mate George Russell also crashed later in Q3 but had set a representative time already and therefore claimed fifth place on the grid.
“I’m encouraged for sure, I’m encouraged to see our performance, we weren’t expecting to be as close as that,” Hamilton said.
“That’s a huge positive for the team, [I’m] really quite far back so I don’t know what’s possible from there, but we have a sprint race tomorrow so I’m sure I can make up for some lost time.”
Team boss Wolff said his drivers “shouldn’t beat themselves up” over the Q3 crashes.
“We’ve given them a car that wasn’t on par for 10 races in a row,” Wolff told Sky.
“Now we’re starting to come to terms [with the car] and we’re able to drive in front and then it can happen that you just lose the car.
“I’d rather have a fast car and a qualifying like this, than not having the pace to be in the top four.”
