LEWIS HAMILTON is fuming with fans from Max Verstappen’s ‘Orange Army’ who cheered as he crashed out of qualifying on Friday.
The seven-time World Champion looked quick in Friday’s session before losing control of the rear end and crashing out at 140mph.
Hamilton crashed his car into the barrier at high speed while on a flying lap
The Brit was left unimpressed by fans who cheered his crash
Verstappen passes the ‘Orange Army’ after securing pole position
Hamilton, 37, emerged from the smash physically unscathed, but was left angry at fans who cheered the end of his qualifying session.
The Brit said: “I didn’t hear they were cheering at the time of the crash. I was going through a bunch of stuff, but I heard it afterwards and I don’t agree with any of that, no matter what.
“A driver could have been in hospital, and you are going to cheer that? It is mind-blowing that people would do that, knowing how dangerous our sport is.”
The dangers of the sport have been massively highlighted in the last two race weekends after Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu had his car flipped upside down and crash into the track barriers at 160mph.
Despite this, when Hamilton crashed he was swiftly reminded he was in Verstappen territory, who won Saturday’s Sprint Race to secure pole for the main event later today.
When the Dutchman secured pole at last week’s Silverstone Grand Prix, fans in the paddock could be heard booing him – an indicator of the tension left over from their championship battle last year.
Hamilton added: “I was grateful I didn’t end up in hospital and I wasn’t heavily injured.
“You should never cheer someone’s downfall or someone’s injury. It shouldn’t have happened at Silverstone and it shouldn’t have happened here.”
Back-to-back podiums have seen Lewis Hamilton close the gap to team-mate George Russell in the drivers standings, but Verstappen looks set to consolidate his lead over title rivals Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc.
The 24-year-old currently leads the Championship from team-mate Perez by 34 points, with the difference between himself and Ferrari’s Leclerc standing at 43.
