Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen has criticised fans that appeared to burn Lewis Hamilton’s merchandise at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A video circled on social media during the weekend that appeared to show the incident taking place.
Max Verstappen fans burning Lewis Hamilton merch at the Hungarian GP just now pic.twitter.com/yZoQoGl7hp
— Harvey (@HarveyyC19) July 29, 2022
Verstappen and Hamilton endured an intense rivalry last year, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the 2021 Drivers’ title.
Fan behaviour has been a prominent subject this year, after a number of people were allegedly subject to sexual abuse at the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this season.
F1 acknowledged the situation at Spielberg, with extra security enforced as a result.
Last weekend, F1 launched the ‘Drive It Out’ campaign as it looks to tackle the issue of abuse.
The incident in Hungary was the latest occurance to be brought to light, with Verstappen condemning the actions.
“Yeah, that’s of course not acceptable. I definitely don’t agree with that because that’s just disgusting,” he said.
“But overall, I think the majority of the fans which also were cheering a lot, I think throughout the race and also on the podium for every driver, I think that’s how it should be.
“And yeah, those videos, or video, of burning merch I think that’s disgusting.”
Verstappen won Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix and now holds a healthy 80-point lead over Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship.
Keyword: Verstappen condemns ‘disgusting’ fans who burned Hamilton merchandise