– Lewis Hamilton is currently experiencing a streak of a special kind: In the past three Formula 1 races, the Ferrari driver was each time given a five-second penalty for violating different rules.
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In Silverstone, Hamilton made a false start, in Belgium he collided with his former teammate George Russell in the first lap, and at the weekend in Hungary he was too fast in the pit lane – after already receiving a three-place grid penalty in qualifying for blocking Oscar Piastri.
Hamilton himself takes responsibility for the mistakes but also emphasizes that he does not agree with all the penalties. “Silverstone was on me because of the start,” he says, though not without expressing a slight form of displeasure about the decision.
Because: In a meeting with the drivers, it was agreed that the stewards have not always acted consistently when issuing false start penalties recently.
“There have been drivers in the past who moved and were not penalized. We discussed with them that – as long as you don’t move when the last lights go out – you shouldn’t be penalized,” says Hamilton. “I was not outside my starting box, and they agreed. So they are looking into that for the future.”
Belgium was “just a racing incident”
The penalty for the collision with Russell in Belgium is also rather unfortunate for him: “Even the driver I collided with at the last race said it was just a racing incident,” Hamilton defends himself and says the penalty “was not necessary” and cost him many points.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur shares this view: “For me, the accident with Russell was a racing incident. If he had to do it again, I would ask him to do exactly the same because he can’t go over the curb,” says the Frenchman.
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And the penalty in qualifying in Hungary is simply just bad luck for Hamilton: “Ultimately, I take responsibility for being on the track. I should have looked in my mirrors, but I thought everyone was at the end of the first lap,” he says.
“The information I received came only at the very end – exactly at the moment he was right behind me. That was a communication error,” says Hamilton.
Hamilton wants to avoid giving any more openings
Then there is the penalty for speeding in the pit lane, when Hamilton probably just deactivated the limiter too early. “It’s probably a series of mistakes,” says Vasseur.
“That he locked the wheel during the pit stop, which cost us a few tenths during the stop, and then he probably tried to get the optimum out of the pit exit and was a bit too early compared to optimal.”
“I think once you start making one mistake, it’s very easy for more than one to happen, and this weekend is a good example of that,” he laments.
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Despite all circumstances, Hamilton emphasizes that he does not feel he is being treated unfairly. Nevertheless, he does not want to let it come to that again: “I have to try to make sure I don’t give them any reason to impose any penalties,” he says.
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