Lewis Hamilton criticized spectators at the Austrian Grand Prix for cheering when he crashed in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton went into Turn Seven, near stands packed with Dutch fans of his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen. “I was going through a lot of stuff in the crash, but to hear it afterwards you know… I don’t agree with any of it, no matter what,” he said. “A driver could have been in the hospital, and you’re going to cheer that?” The incident left Hamilton 10th in qualifying, although he was promoted to ninth on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race after a penalty for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Speaking after the sprint, Hamilton added: “It’s impressive that people did this, knowing how dangerous our sport is. I’m thankful I wasn’t in the hospital and wasn’t seriously injured. “You should never cheer someone’s fall or someone’s injury.” Hamilton will start Sunday’s grand prix in eighth, his final position in Saturday’s sprint event. He made a poor start and fell to 11th on the first lap after being hit by Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly at the first corner. He spent much of the sprint stuck behind Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, but could not pass because the Mercedes had inferior straight-line speed to their Ferrari-powered cars. He finally got past Schumacher with two laps to go. Hamilton said: “Ferrari’s power is too much for us at the moment. “I don’t know if it’s attraction or if it’s force, it’s hard to quantify which it is. “It wasn’t a particularly fun race. I didn’t feel that fast. But like I said, I think something was wrong with the car after that [incident with Gasly]. “But a big, big thank you to my team for building the car. They worked crazy hard overnight and this morning to keep us in the race, so hopefully tomorrow is a bit better.”
