Hamilton criticises fans who jeered crash: “A driver could've been in hospital"

A section of fans at the Red Bull Ring jeered Hamilton on Friday when he lost the back of his car - Mercedes were forced to spend a third of the extra cost cap allowance on this accident plus George Russell's crash.

Hamilton finished P8 in Saturday’s sprint race then reacted to the fans’ jeers: “I didn’t hear them booing because I was going through a lot of stuff in the crash.

• Verstappen wins sprint race ahead of Ferraris at F1 Austrian Grand Prix
• Full results

“To hear it afterwards? I don’t agree or condone any of that.

“A driver could have been in hospital. And you are going to cheer that?

“It is just mind-blowing that people would do that, knowing how dangerous our sport is.

“I am grateful that I wasn’t 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.”

The Austrian Grand Prix is a home race for Mercedes' rivals Red Bull, and has attracted masses of orange-clad Max Verstappen fans.

Last week at the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Verstappen was booed by some fans but Hamilton condemned that treatment.

The rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull, which hit boiling point after the controversial end to last season, has began creeping back to the fore in recent weeks.

The drivers and team principles have clashed over FIA rules and driving strategies.

But Hamilton has been forced to watch his old nemesis Verstappen cruise to winning the sprint race on Saturday.

And Hamilton admitted he has done further damage to his Mercedes, 24 hours after crashing in Qualifying.

He said about his sprint race struggles: "I got a bit of wheel-spin and was under attack by the cars around me.

"Pierre Gasly moved over on me, so I had nowhere to go.

"It definitely wasn’t the same as this morning but it was drivable, so I’m grateful for that.

"So lucky. I am grateful to have finished. I got one point, so…

"The Ferrari power is too much for us, at the moment. It wasn’t the most fun of races.

"Something was wrong with the steering."