During the Budapest race weekend, a video emerged on social media showing a fan on the track wearing what appeared to be an orange Verstappen shirt burning a black Mercedes cap.
It comes just weeks after a similar incident was filmed in a fan area at the Austrian Grand Prix, where abusive fan behavior led F1 to act by tightening security and launching a new campaign called “Drive It Out”.
Verstappen was questioned on Sunday after his Hungarian Grand Prix victory over the video of fans burning Lewis Hamilton merchandise, which he said was “of course not acceptable”.
“No, I definitely don’t agree with that, because it’s just disgusting,” Verstappen said.
“Overall I think the majority of the fans who also cheered a lot, I think throughout the race and also on the podium for every driver. I think that’s how it should be.
“Yeah, those videos, or video, of goods on fire, I think it’s disgusting.”
F1 fans in the pits
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Verstappen and Hamilton have been embroiled in a bitter fight for the F1 World Championship in 2021 which has spread across social media and seen tension between their fans at events.
At the British Grand Prix in July, Verstappen received cheers as he spun during qualifying before being booed during his post-session interview. Although Verstappen brushed it off, Hamilton called on the fans to stop, saying: “I think we’re better than that.”
In Austria a week later – a race attended by more than 50,000 Dutch fans supporting Verstappen – there were cheers and celebrations in the stands when Hamilton crashed in qualifying, which the Mercedes driver called it “mind-blowing”.
OPINION: F1 must act tough on abuse – no fan should ever attend a GP and not want to go back
Reports of abusive behavior and fan harassment in Austria have prompted widespread condemnation from F1 drivers and teams, as well as F1 embarking on its “Drive It Out” campaign which aims to prevent abuse.
The campaign was launched with a video featuring all drivers condemning abusive behavior, and is expected to lead to discussions between F1 and each race promoter about additional measures to be taken to ensure the safety of fans at events.
