That was on Friday night as the seven-time world champion lost the rear end of his Mercedes and went right-side-first into the tire barrier. He sat in the cockpit for a while before climbing out safely. But the glee with which his misfortune was met was a reminder that he is in hostile territory. Around 60,000 orange-clad fans have made the journey here in cars, caravans and caravans from Holland to support Verstappen. The Red Bull Ring is a 12-hour drive from Amsterdam, but the distance has hardly deterred the diehards among the 105,000-strong crowd. Lewis Hamilton was not impressed by the crowd’s reaction to his crash in qualifying They were rewarded for their dedication by seeing their man win Saturday’s sprint and secure pole for Sunday’s feature race. Hamilton was eighth, but only after taking on his spare chassis after the previous afternoon’s accident and then moved up from 11th after a minor crash on the opening lap. Speaking for the first time about the biggest hit, Hamilton said: “I didn’t hear them cheering at the time of the crash. I was going through a bunch of stuff, but I listened to it afterwards and I don’t agree with any of it, no matter what. “A driver could have been in the hospital and you’re going to cheer that? It’s unbelievable that people would do this, knowing how dangerous our sport is. Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes through Turn 7 and ended up in the barriers on Friday “I was thankful I didn’t end up in the hospital and wasn’t seriously injured. You should never cheer someone’s fall or someone’s injury. It shouldn’t have happened at Silverstone and it shouldn’t have happened here.’ Hamilton was referring to last weekend’s British Grand Prix, where Verstappen was booed after pole. Now the tsokama is on the other foot. As for the sprint, it was a decent affair. Some stuck in the mud deplore the format, but going into qualifying on Friday brings it to life on the day, with the sprint an enriching bonus on Saturday. It also potentially mixes up the Grand Prix grid – all on merit and not due to reverse grid gimmicks. What’s not to like? Formula 1 should seriously consider running a sprint at each lap, perhaps with some modifications, such as moving from a third of the length of the grand prix to half the distance and/or introducing a stop. Qualifying was delayed as Hamilton’s damaged Mercedes machine was towed away Anyway, Verstappen won quite comfortably from the front, just holding off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the first lap. The eight points he secured extended his lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to 38 and over Charles Leclerc in the other red car to 44. Perez, by the way, drove perfectly. He was strong but measured in moving from 13th to fifth, three places behind Leclerc and one behind Mercedes’ George Russell. As for Ferrari, what the hell are they doing? On Saturday, there were some hair-raising moments as the two men dueled and, like at Silverstone, you wonder why they don’t throw everything behind Leclerc, their No.1, who started second compared to Sainz’s third. Around 60,000 orange-clad fans have traveled from Holland to support Max Verstappen Now to Hamilton’s first lap sprint incident. Split between Williams’ Alex Albon and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, he cut off the latter. “I have a little spin. I was attacked by the cars around me. Pierre squeezed in on me so I had nowhere to go.” Hamilton continued, passing Albon and the Alfa Romeo of his old team-mate Val-tteri Bottas. He then went wheel to wheel with Haas’ Mick Schumacher lap after lap until the Briton finally forced his way past just before the end. “I was so lucky to make the first round. I’m grateful to finish and get a grade.’ Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel was handed a £21,000 suspended fine for walking out of Friday’s drivers’ briefing in a burst of piquet during a to-and-fro across the track boundary. The Aston Martin driver, who was knocked into the gravel by Alex Albon during the sprint race, was summoned to the stewards last night. He had already apologized to match director Niels Wittich. The stewards said: “Vettel left the meeting without permission, expressing his disappointment. Drivers are not free to leave when they want. At this level they are standards for every driver around the world.’
