Opinion: Why Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes need to take the blame for F1's toxic fanbase

Lewis Hamilton made a mistake on his Q3 lap and ended up in the wall at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP qualifying. What followed after the crash as the Mercedes went through the gravel was the Dutch/Max Verstappen fans cheering on the accident. It was not a comfortable site to watch as the crash did seem quite heavy and Hamilton could potentially have been injured in it.

Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, but he wasn't impressed as well when the Mercedes driver was asked about the cheers after the session. He said it was "mind-blowing" that people would do that. Speaking to the media, Hamilton said:

“I didn’t hear them during... I was going through a bunch of stuff in the crash. But to hear it afterwards, I don’t agree or condone any of that – no matter what. A driver could have been in hospital, and you’re going to cheer that? I mean, it’s just mind-blowing that people will do that, knowing how dangerous our sport is.”

“I’m grateful that I wasn’t in hospital and I wasn’t heavily injured. You should never cheer someone’s downfall, someone’s injury, or crash. It shouldn’t have happened at Silverstone, even though it wasn’t obviously a crash.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was also unhappy with the events and called on the sport to "educate the fans" that booing the drivers or cheering when they crash is just not acceptable. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:

“I think we just need to speak more to the fans [about] 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 would think that we would have some animosity out there [with them]. Nobody should actually do it, so we need to collectively, with F1 and with you guys [media], educate people.”

Before we try to make sense of what Hamilton and Wolff are saying, it's fair to take a look at the timeline of events that ultimately resulted in what happened at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP.

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Chronology of events that resulted in the crowd's reaction at 2022 F1 Austrian GP

2021 F1 Austrian GP and 2021 F1 Styrian GP

We tend to forget that even before what happened this season, the roots of the mess that was created in Spielberg this time around date back to the 2021 F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were embroiled in a very intense battle for the championship. There wasn't much to choose from between the two in terms of points. The F1 circus reached Spielberg where there were going to be two back-to-back races. The race was in Red Bull's backyard and the team dominated to give Verstappen wins in both races. Throughout those two weekends, Hamilton was treated with respect by the fans and even got cheers when he scored a podium.

2021 F1 British GP

It was this particular weekend that sent things into overdrive. Max Verstappen was booed relentlessly from Thursday onwards. Whenever he was on the microphone, he was booed. After Friday's qualifying, he was booed. After winning the sprint race, he was booed mercilessly. Finally on Sunday, when the Red Bull driver was sent into the barriers at 300kph for a 51G crash, what followed were deafening cheers.

2021 F1 Dutch GP

Dutch fans greeted Lewis Hamilton with similar boos during qualifying, something that even the Mercedes driver addressed early in the weekend. On Sunday, after the race, however, while Hamilton was on the podium, the crowd had mellowed and the Mercedes driver got his well-deserved cheers when he received his second place trophy.

Post-2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP drama

The Verstappen-Hamilton rivalry had reached uncomparable levels by the time the season ended and what happened in Abu Dhabi just stoked the fire even more. Max Verstappen's title win was considered contentious by a huge chunk of fans, and to this day the "#HumanErrorChampion" is very common on social media.

The two fanbases have gotten even more polarized and it is evident even this season in any race that Max Verstappen loses or where Lewis Hamilton has an off-day. The amount of abuse and hate both the drivers get is hard to describe these days whenever they have a bad day in the office.

2022 F1 British GP

This brings us to the F1 British GP this season. With Lewis Hamilton not even in contention for the title or even battling Max Verstappen, there were expectations that maybe the fans would be on their best behavior. As it turns out, that wasn't the case. Fans booed Verstappen from pillar to post in every session, and even on Sunday, when he encountered damage to his car, it was greeted with cheers.

2022 F1 Austrian GP

At the recent F1 Austrian GP, it is now well-documented what happened. What Max Verstappen had to endure at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton faced the same in Spielberg. Were the cheers from the crowd justified when the Mercedes driver crashed out in qualifying? In no way was something like that justified. If you look at it in context, however, this is just in line with what has been happening with the fanbase on either side.

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Why do Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes need to take the blame as well?

The outrage and criticism from Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes is not wrong. Any crash in a dangerous sport like Formula 1 should not be cheered. The question, though, that both Hamilton and Toto Wolff might need to answer here is not about what happened in Austria 2022. Rather, they needed to answer what was going on at Silverstone this season.

The cheers for Hamilton's crash were completely wrong. Why did the same parameter not apply, however, to the rousing applause during Max Verstappen's crash last season? In retrospect, Hamilton's crash was not as severe and he walked out of the car just fine. In Verstappen's case, the car was beaten to a pulp. Not only that, it was a 51G impact and he ended up in the hospital. Still, not a peep from the Mercedes driver or Toto Wolff about what had happened.

Even this season, what happened in Austria was no different than what had happened in Silverstone just a week earlier. There was no talk of "educating the fans" from Toto Wolff at Silverstone. There was nothing "mind-blowing" for Lewis Hamilton either. What was so different about Austria then? Maybe Hamilton was on the receiving end this time?

Was there even a point in criticizing the fans in Austria when the same thing was happening a week earlier at Silverstone and the Mercedes driver did not feel any outrage or make any effort to stop the hate that Verstappen was subjected to?

At the end of the day, it's hard to control the mob, you just can't do that and that's understandable as well. It must be asked, however, has there ever been an effort to calm down their respective fanbases? Has Lewis Hamilton even once spoken against the disrespectful boos that Max Verstappen has to deal with? Has he used his platform, the one he uses to spread countless other messages to stop this hate and the toxic fan culture? No, he hasn't.

What happened at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP was a chain reaction that started when Max Verstappen's 51G impact crash was cheered by British fans last season. If Lewis Hamilton or even Toto Wolff do not address that and request that their fan group be more respectful, then you can't expect your cries for foul to be heard by anyone.

Both Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton have seen the toxic fandom originate in front of them at Silverstone and have done nothing to stop it. They did nothing to stop it this season when Max Verstappen was in the firing line and because of that, their criticism of the crowd in Austria did not add up.

Crying foul only when you are the victim is incorrect, especially if your fanbase has been doing the same thing. Somewhere down the line, the toxic culture has remained unchecked by Lewis Hamilton and the team because it has been against Verstappen. Before the Mercedes driver and Toto Wolff lash out at the fans, they need to look in the mirror because to a great extent, they are somewhat responsible for F1's toxic fanbase today.