Ferrari has been summoned to visit the Formula 1 stewards’ office following Lewis Hamilton’s apparent unsafe release during the Belgian Grand Prix, in which he knocked down a mechanic as he left his pitbox.
In his lap 20 pitstop under the virtual safety car, Hamilton had just served a five-second penalty as the stewards deemed him to be at fault for the first-lap contact with George Russell – which led to the Mercedes driver’s retirement.
All four tyres were changed on Hamilton’s car, while the mechanic operating the front wing adjustment tool only attempted to make the change to the front wing angle as Hamilton was released from the box.
He was struck by the front of Hamilton’s car and fell to the floor, but no injuries were reported in the incident.
Hamilton was thus left without the correct adjustments to the front wing, and he struggled with the front end of his car after switching from the medium tyre to the hard.
The car appeared to come back to him towards the end of the stint, allowing the Briton to make a move on Oscar Piastri for fourth – but it is uncertain whether he will keep the place.
Why Hamilton took a five-second penalty for Russell contact
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Images
The stewards had already decreed that Hamilton should take a five-second penalty for his clash with Russell on the opening lap, stating that there were enough mitigating circumstances to shrink this from the standard 10-second deduction for avoidable contact.
In that instance, the stewards’ report read that “approaching Turn 5 on the opening lap, Car 63 attempted an overtake around the outside of Car 44 and had established sufficient overlap to be entitled to racing room. Car 44 remained on the inside.
“During the corner, Car 44 experienced understeer and, despite attempting to avoid Car 63 by applying corrective steering, made contact with the right-hand side of Car 63 with its left-front wheel. The stewards determined that Car 63 remained within the available racing room and that the collision was caused by Car 44 being unable to maintain sufficient separation.
“The stewards recognise several mitigating circumstances. Car 44 acknowledged the presence of Car 63, attempted to leave appropriate racing room and made a genuine attempt to avoid contact. The collision resulted from a loss of front-end grip rather than from an aggressive or deliberate manoeuvre. In addition, the incident occurred on the opening lap, where reduced grip and compressed racing conditions are recognised.
“For these reasons, while Car 44 was wholly at fault for the collision, the Stewards consider that a 5-second time penalty, rather than the standard 10-second time penalty, is the appropriate penalty in accordance with the FIA Penalty Guidelines.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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