Lewis Hamilton warned, Mercedes fined €15,000 after Logan Sargeant near-miss in FP2

Lewis Hamilton has been handed a warning by the F1 stewards after a scary near-miss with Williams driver Logan Sargeant in second practice.

Hamilton impeded Sargeant during the second 60-minute practice session and thus was forced to see the stewarrds

The stewards felt Mercedes were to blame as they hadn't informed Hamilton of the fast-approaching Sargeant.

Thus, Mercedes have been fined as a result €15,000.

The stewards noted: "We heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determine that Car 44 impeded Car 2 at Turn 11. As a result, Car 2 had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. Had that not been done, there would have been a serious, high speed crash.

"Having listened to the team radio, it was clear to us that the team of Car 44 failed to warn their driver of the fact that Car 2 was arriving on a fast lap. 

"That was a serious failure on the part of the team, particularly given the speeds on this circuit and the nature of turn 11, which is at the end of a series of high speed corners where driver visibility is impaired. We therefore issue a warning to the driver and impose a fine of €15,000 to the team."

Before the stewards announced their verdict, former Aston Martin F1 strategist Bernie Collins felt Mercedes were to blame, not Hamilton.

“This is on the pit wall,” she said on Sky Sports. “Drivers cannot see far enough in their mirrors, at the speed that they’re going. We’ve heard complaints about how bad these cars are, from a visibility point of view.

“The pit wall needs to be on them, the distance to the car behind, how quickly they’re coming, whether they’re on a fast lap or not. The blame needs to be, in many cases, laid there. In qualifying, amazingly, it gets easier through the sessions. You get less cars on track, they’re on the same run programme.

“Whereas in FP2 you get some high fuels, some low fuels. Some in and out laps. It gets easier in qualifying. But we can’t afford a shunt like that.”