09/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton has hit out at the fans who cheered as he crashed out of qualifying on Friday, insisting that such a reaction to accidents has no place in the sport.
Just a week ago, each minor mistake by Max Verstappen was greeted with a large roar of approval from the crowd, even more so when the Dutchman spun at Stowe in Q3.
On Friday however, during qualifying, an equally partisan crowd cheered when Lewis Hamilton went off into the barriers in Q3.
Though it was only the Briton's pride that was dented, it was not a good look for the sport.
"I didn't hear them during, I mean, I was going through a bunch of stuff in the crash," he admitted when asked about the cheering in the aftermath of the Sprint.
"But to hear it afterwards, you know, I don't agree or condone any of that no matter what," he added. "A driver could have been in hospital, and you're going to cheer that?
"It's just mind-blowing that people will do that, just knowing how dangerous our sport is.
"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."
As we said last week, this isn't something new, when Michael Schumacher crashed on the opening lap of the 1999 British Grand Prix, a large portion of the crowd cheered its approval, the German missing much of the second half of the season as a result of the crash.
However, with the way the sport is being promoted at present, the focus on personalities, the drivers' strong presence on social media, not to mention the obvious nationalist aspect, such is the nature of the best.
In recent weeks, George Russell and Toto Wolff have spoken out over the crowd booing certain drivers, the Austrian particularly incensed by the cheering on Friday.
"Booing is not right in any sport," he said. "Teams fight, but booing is a personal attack on the driver. We heard them at Silverstone too and they were not good."
Fact is, other than the fact that booing your rival and cheering your favourite is an age-old thing, much of the bitterness that is creeping in at present is due to the likes of Wolff, Horner, Hamilton and the rest.
The two team bosses never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at one another, be it an (almost) outright claim of cheating or knowing-wink barb.
Then, in the wake of last Sunday's thrilling battle, Hamilton simply had to take a swipe at his nemesis, Verstappen, by making the "sensible" remark about Charles Leclerc's move on him at Copse.
All these things add up, and in a world of social media where some feel they are free to say and do almost anything without repercussions, there will always be that minority that take things too far.
It doesn't need the likes of team bosses or drivers to further stir the sh**.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spielberg here.