The English driver finished eighth in the sprint race of the 2022 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, but before talking about his performance, he wanted to emphasize what happened on Friday in qualifying, where he suffered a strong blow against the wall .
The jeers from the Dutch crowd in the Red Bull Ring stands at the moment Lewis Hamilton crashed in the decisive Q3 was very evident on television.
Speaking just after finishing eighth in Saturday’s sprint race, the Briton made it clear that any negative reaction from fans was not welcome in Formula 1.
The eight-time world champion had already spoken out on the matter at Silverstone, telling fans that “we are better than that” after gestures towards Max Verstappen.
“I didn’t hear them at the time [of the accident], I mean, I was thinking about a lot of things after the accident,” he said when asked about the fans’ reaction.
“But I heard about it afterwards and, you know, I don’t agree or approve of any of it.”
“A driver could have ended up in the hospital. And you’re going to celebrate that? I mean, it’s amazing that people would do that, knowing how dangerous our sport is.”
“And I’m thankful I didn’t have to go to the hospital, and I wasn’t seriously injured, but you should never celebrate someone’s accident.”
“It shouldn’t have happened at Silverstone, although it wasn’t obviously in an accident, and it shouldn’t have happened here,” he added.
Speaking of the sprint race, Hamilton said he was “grateful” to have crossed the checkered flag after first-lap contact with Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez.
“My wheels spun a little bit, and I was getting attacked by cars around me,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com about the first corner incident with Gasly .
“And then Pierre [Gasly] jumped on me, so I had nowhere to go.”
Regarding the incident with Perez at Turn 3, he said: “Same thing, I was very lucky. I’m just thankful that I finished, and I got a point!”
Hamilton assured that his car did not feel good after the contact with Gasly: “Definitely the car was not the same as this morning, but at least it was manageable”.
“Something was wrong with the steering,” explained the Briton.
“Probably the weights are wrong, it could have a big toe-in on the front right of the car, or something like that.”
The Mercedes rider spent much of the race in the sprint trying to overtake Mick Schumacher and finally succeeded in the closing laps. However, the other Haas, Kevin Magnussen’s managed to escape.
Mick Schumacher acknowledged enjoying his battle, but regretted that he had not been allowed to pass Magnussen earlier in the race as he thought he was faster than his teammate.
“Ferrari’s power is too superior for us at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s the resistance, or if it’s the power, it’s hard to say what it is.”
“It wasn’t the most fun of races, it didn’t feel very fast. But like I said, I think there’s something wrong with the car.”
“But I want to give a big thank you to my team for putting the car together after the accident. They have worked very hard overnight and this morning to keep us in the race, so hopefully tomorrow will be a little better.”
