Yahoo Autos Lewis Hamilton hits out at Max Verstappen fans after Dutchman wins Austrian GP sprint race
Hamilton was furious with Verstappen fans cheered his crash during qualifying on Friday
Verstappen wins Austrian GP sprint race ahead of two Ferraris
George Russell finished fourth with Hamilton back in eighth
'Sorry' Lewis Hamilton apologises to Mercedes after costly Austria crash
Lewis Hamilton has hit out at Max Verstappen fans who cheered his crash in Friday’s qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, calling their reaction “mind-blowing”.
The Red Bull Ring is a stronghold for tens of thousands of orange-clad Dutch fans, who descend on the Styrian hills from Holland every year to fervently support their hero.
Many cheered as Hamilton ended his Q3 run in the barriers but the Briton said he was baffled by their reaction to his accident.
"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?,” Hamilton said after his eighth-placed finish in Saturday’s sprint race.
"It is mind-blowing that people would do that, knowing how dangerous our sport is. I was grateful I didn't end up in hospital and I wasn't heavily injured."
Last week at Silverstone pole-sitter Verstappen was booed by some of the British crowd, which Hamilton later condemned at the time and he did so again here.
"It shouldn't have happened at Silverstone - even though it wasn't a crash - and it shouldn't have happened here," he added.
Whilst Hamilton spent last season in a thrilling and see-sawing battle with Verstappen in 2021, the two have had contrasting weekends at the Red Bull Ring.
The seven-time champion could only make up one place from his starting position of ninth in the 23-lap sprint race, which sets the grid for Sunday's grand prix. Verstappen, meanwhile, continued his serene progress towards a second world championship with a controlling performance on Saturday, finishing ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen had grabbed pole position at the death in qualifying on Friday, beating both Ferrari drivers by less than a 10th of a second. But the only remote danger he experienced in Saturday's 23-lap sprint race came on the opening lap.
After an aborted start Verstappen moved across on Leclerc from off the line, firmly but fairly squeezing him towards the pit wall and keeping the lead in the process.
After a battle with the Ferraris in the opening corners, the Red Bull driver was comfortable in the lead. Although Verstappen never stretched his lead to more than three seconds, the victory looked beyond doubt barring a mechanical issue.
Sprinting to victory!
👏 @Max33Verstappen #AustrianGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/i85jEVSYNY— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2022
“It was a decent race, we had good pace in the beginning. After that we were closely matched,” Verstappen said.
“It was just the first few laps, they [the Ferraris] were fighting a bit. I expect tomorrow will be an interesting battle again.”
Verstappen was helped by yet another on-track squabble between the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz as they battled for second. It was not quite a repeat of the indecision and confusion at Silverstone but was another example of the team not making the most of their opportunities, albeit on a smaller scale. Verstappen extended his championship lead to 38 points over Perez and 44 over the Monegasque with a win on his favoured track.
Heading into this weekend, Leclerc and Sainz were separated by just 11 points in the standings, which meant Leclerc was no longer Ferrari’s clear and outright championship challenger. Leclerc appeared frustrated after the sprint, but said that his fight with Sainz might not have proved critical to ultimately overhauling Verstappen.
"We cannot afford what we did today," Leclerc said. When asked how much time he left battling his team-mate he replied “a little bit”.
“Whether this was enough to get the win I don’t think so. We will never know what would have happened but today is what it is,” he added.
There was, at least, some optimism that Ferrari could take the fight to Verstappen for Sunday’s race. But should they manage to do that on genuine race pace and not with favourable fortune as last week, it will be a feat that we have not seen from Ferrari on race day for a while.
Most of the notable action came in the midfield. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez surged from 13th on the grid to finish fifth, scything through the field with ease on the undulating Spielberg track. It showed just how much pace is in the RB18.
His comeback drive was in stark contrast to Hamilton’s. The Briton started ninth but only made up one place by the chequered flag. He started poorly, dropping back two places on the opening lap after being caught up in an incident at the first corner. After overtaking Alexander Albon and Valtteri Bottas early on, he spent much of the race behind the Haas of Mick Schumacher.
Aside from Leclerc vs Sainz, Hamilton’s scrap with Schumacher was the most notable duel of the afternoon. Several times Hamilton had closed up to the rear wing of the Haas, but either was not close enough - or felt it too risky - to try an overtake.
It was not until lap 21 when he made his move and made it count with a smart overtake around the outside at turn four. Hamilton said he felt there was “something not right” with his car, but also pointed to the strength of Ferrari power on the straights.
With his eighth place he secured a single championship point, but lost further ground to team-mate George Russell. Going by the pace the Ferrari and Red Bulls showed on Saturday, though, the chances of a third Hamilton podium in succession look remote without the intervention of crashes, safety cars or red flags.
It is Russell who will represent Mercedes’ best hopes for a top-three finish, though, he ended a lonely race in fourth, exactly where he started, and 13.4 seconds adrift after just 23 racing laps.
Austrian Grand Prix sprint race, classification
Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
George Russell, Mercedes
Sergio Perez, Red Bull
Esteban Ocon, Alpine
Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Mick Schumacher, Haas
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
Lando Norris, McLaren
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
Alexander Albon, Williams
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
Nicholas Latifi, Williams
DNF: Fernando Alonso, Alpine; Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
Austrian Grand Prix sprint race - as it happened
04:15 PM
Updated driver standings after that
Good recovery from Perez. Not a good recovery from Hamilton. Mercedes just didn't have that straight-line speed.
04:13 PM
Sainz speaks after the race
I had a good start then a couple of fights at the beginning. It was good fun, like it should be. But then probably overheated the tyres a bit and I had to back off to recover them and finish the race.
I think first of all we need to improve a little bit our pace because he looked to be very strong at the start. Tomorrow is a long race... I think anything can happen. The important thing is that anything can happen and we will try to beat Max.
04:12 PM
Leclerc reacts to his second place finish
It was tricky, the first part of the race was all about managing. I was just trying to control my tyres to attack at the end. I had a small fight with Carlos. I was starting to push but it was very close. I really hope [we can work together] to close the gap to Max.
04:12 PM
Verstappen reacts to his sprint race victory
It was great to see [the Dutch fans], quite a lot of smoke at the end. It was a decent race, we had good pace in the beginning. After that we were closely matched. It was like a sprint should go, quite flat out. It was just the first few laps, they were fighting a little bit... after that we were quite similar in pace. I expect tomorrow will be an interesting battle again. The race tomorrow is longer and will be quite tricky on tyres. We've been competitive again this weekend.
04:08 PM
Was that a good sprint race?
Yeah, decent I think. Battles between the Ferraris and Hamilton and Schumacher the highlights.
04:05 PM
Austrian GP sprint: Top 8
VER - 8pts
LEC - 7pts
SAI - 6pts
RUS - 5pts
PER - 4pts
OCO - 3pts
MAG - 2pts
HAM - 1pt
"Tricky on the tyres," Verstappen says.
"Yeah, we are quick, we can get them tomorrow," he says. Sort of implying that he wasted time fighting with Carlos Sainz. That is a fair point. But they are only 11 points away from each other in the standings.
04:03 PM
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX SPRINT
Eight points for him, and an increase in his championship lead. More importantly he will start first tomorrow. Which is where he started today. Leclerc follows him home, then Sainz, Russell, Perez and Ocon.
04:02 PM
FINAL LAP
Verstappen cruising home to sprint race victory here.
Russell in a lonely fourth behind the two Ferraris.
Incident involving MSC and RIC noted for a starting procedure infringement, whatever that means.
04:01 PM
Lap 22 of 23 - Top eight heading into the final couple of laps
VER
LEC
SAI
RUS
PER
OCO
MAG
HAM
All these men will get points as it stands.
04:00 PM
Lap 21 of 23 - Bottas closing up on the back of Hamilton
But it's not going to be a concern for him any more as he finally gets through Schumacher on the straight to turn four! That should be that... but I don't think he will get Magnussen.
03:59 PM
Lap 20 of 23 - Hamilton on the radio
"The car ahead has gone off at least four times," he says.
Again Hamilton tries it around the outside of turn four but Schumacher hands him out to dry. I think this is good defensive driving from Schumacher. Doesn't look too aggressive.
03:58 PM
Lap 19 of 23 - Hamilton can't get through Schumacher
Nope. Hamilton can't risk it. He's not close enough again at turn one. Verstappen's lead is down to 2.2s but that's pretty irrelevant now...
Schumacher makes a mistake in the middle sector and Hamilton is closer still. Hamilton get very close running into turn four and nearly hit Schumacher's rear but the Haas is quite slippery.
03:57 PM
Lap 18 of 23 - This feels like a track where you should be able to overtake
But Hamilton does not seem to have the straight line speed of the Haas. He might be this time, though...
03:56 PM
Lap 17 of 23 - Hamilton still not close enough to consider a move on MSC
Not sure what this all says about his hopes of a charge through the field tomorrow. He won't be starting any higher than seventh at absolute best, and that is if he gets his act together with a stunning final few laps here... which doesn't seem likely.
03:55 PM
Lap 16 of 23 - Verstappen extends his lead
Marginally, but he is cruising here. Schumacher closing up on Magnussen for seventh, bit Hamilton is still lurking behind him. Ricciardo questioning whether he should be let through Norris. McLaren suffering a poor weekend here.
03:53 PM
Lap 15 of 23 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
LEC +2.7
SAI +5.8
RUS +11.0
PER +16.3
OCO +20.1
MAG +23.3
MSC +24.0
HAM +24.6
BOT +26.5
03:52 PM
Lap 14 of 23 - Verstappen leads Leclerc by 2.5s
Hamilton has not yet passed Schumacher. Looks to have much more pace, and I am sure he does, but hasn't been able to make a move work.
He's closer this time heading into turn one...
03:51 PM
Lap 13 of 23 - Hamilton gets DRS on Schumacher
He goes to the outside into turn four but backs out. He's right on the back of him heading into six and seven but has to be cautious here. He will surely get DRS and be patient and get him at turn one...
Alonso has retired, by the way.
03:50 PM
Lap 12 of 23 - Verstappen leads Leclerc by 2.9s
Seeming like a bit of a formality this one. Sainz has dropped back to 2.5s behind Leclerc now. Perez gets Ocon to move up into sixth, though Ocon starts to fight back into four but can't make a move stick.
The Verstappen/Latifi incident is being investigated.
03:48 PM
Lap 11 of 23 - Top 10
VER
LEC
SAI
RUS
OCO
PER
MAG
MSC
HAM
BOT
Perez up into sixth. Vettel into the gravel at four, puts it in reverse, gets onto the escape road and keeps going. Nice recovery. Looks like he tried to go around the outside of Latifi. Or Latifi tried to go up the inside of him at turn six and they hit.
