Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff hits back against Max Verstappens’ fans. The Oranje army celebrated Lewis Hamilton’s crash in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s fans have clashed against each other on multiple occasions during the 2021 season. The rivalry between the two was so intense, that even the two teams were at each other’s throats.
Toto Wolff and Christian Horner have taken multiple slides at the other team. Eventually Red Bull got the last laugh after Max’s championship win in the last race in Abu Dhabi.
And the two sets of fans have doubled their support for their driver. With Mercedes struggling the championship battle in 2022 has shifted from Mercedes to Ferrari. But Hamilton and Max’s heated rivalry has not come to a close as of now.
In the recent Qualifying session of the 2022 Austria GP, Lewis Hamilton crashed while making his Q3 run. The session was red-flagged as the 7-time World Champion’s car was being recovered. And minutes after racing resumed, his teammate George Russell spun and hit the barriers.
In Red Bull’s home race, the grandstands were filled with Max Verstappen fans. The fans erupted in unison after both Mercedes’s crashed out of Qualifying. And Toto Wolff took the sarcastic cheering by the Dutchman’s fans personally.
https://twitter.com/lovesferrari/status/1545437644557291520
The Austrian responded with a response in his post-qualifying session interview. He claimed the cheering of Verstappen’s fans while Hamilton crashed was ‘unsporting’ and against the dignity of the sport.
The Mercedes Team Principal and CEO was blunt with his response. Wolff said, “We just need to speak more to the fans cheering when a car is in the wall or booing a driver who gives an interview.”
Little bit distasteful from orange fans celebrating lewis his crash 🤬
— Simon Weigang (@simonweigang) July 8, 2022
He added, “It’s not what we would do with our competitors and enemies even though you would think there is some animosity out there. Nobody should actually do it, we need to work collectively with F1 and you guys to educate people.”
Also Read: F1 Twitter reacts as Lewis Hamilton, George Russell crash in Q3 of Austrian GP
Max Verstappen claims a pole as both Mercedes cars crash out
Max Verstappen claimed his 3rd pole of the season in the Red Bull Ring. The Dutchman will start from the front row for the 2022 Austrian GP Sprint race. He was followed by the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez had all Q3 lap times deleted as well as final Q2 time. The Mexican will be starting the sprint race from P13. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will be starting P4 and P9 respectively after gaining a position following Perez’s lap time deletion.
Both the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher qualified P6 and P7 in a dramatic fashion. While the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso made it to P5 and P8.
Also Read: $160,000 Toto Wolff x Mercedes watch auctioned and sold for Lewis Hamilton’s charity
