‘We need to educate people’ - Toto Wolff slams F1 fans for cheering Lewis Hamilton, George Russell crashes

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has criticised fans at the F1 Austrian Grand Prix for jeering Lewis Hamilton following his crash during qualifying.
The damaged Mercedes
The damaged Mercedes

Hamilton crashed out midway through Q3 at Turn 7, losing control of his Mercedes F1 car🌼 in dramatic fashion, and ending up in the barriers.

The seven-time champion was met with a chorus of jeers from the crowd which is larg💙ely made up of Max Verstappen’s fans - the ‘Orange Army’. 

Mercedes teammate George Rus✃sell also crashed in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, and he was met with a similar volume of jeers.

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B🔯ooing and jeering is a hot topic a𝓰t the moment after last weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Verstappen was greeted with boos and jeers after qualif🦩ying at Silverstone, although Hamilton was quick to tell his British fans not to do it. 

"I think we’re better than that,” Hamilton said last weekend. “I would say we don’t need to do the boo🔯ing. We have such great fans, our sporting fans feel emotions up and down, but I definitely do♏n’t agree with booing. I don’t think we need to do that. I think we should be here pushing everybody. 

"It doesn’t make any difference when you boo someone, they’ve al🎶ready made the mi🐬stake, or whatever it is. But I really do appreciate the support I have here. Maybe some of them are still feeling the pain from last year, still.”

3rd place Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 with Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd
3rd place Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 with Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing…

While Hamilton is not fighting Verstappen for the title this year, the pair’s inte🍌nse championship fight in 2021 means there’s still bad blood between their respective fan bases.

Speaking after quaꦚlifying at the Red Bull Ring, Wolff believes F1, the media and the teams need to work together t♛o “educate fans”.

“I think we just need to speak more to the fans that✤ cheering when a car is in the wall or booing for a driver that gives an interview, it’s not what we would do with our competitors and enemies even though you can think we would have some animosity out there,” Wolff said. 

“No one should actually do it. We 𒅌need to collectively with F1, with you guysꦉ [the media] educate people.”

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