Stewards issue verdict on Lewis Hamilton after near-miss with Kimi Antonelli

Lewis Hamilton has received a warning for blocking his Mercedes replacement Kimi Antonelli during Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The seven-time F1 world champion unintentionally impeded Antonelli during second practice at the Red Bull Ring, forcing the 18-year-old Italian to take evasive action.

Antonelli encountered a slow-moving Hamilton on the run to Turn 4 and jinked left to take a wider approach into the corner to ensure he avoided contact with the Ferrari.

Hamilton, who immediately put his hand up to apologise to Antonelli, faced a post-session investigation for the incident but avoided picking up a penalty.

The 40-year-old Briton insisted he could not see Antonelli coming.

Despite Hamilton acknowledging his mistake, the stewards still felt a warning was necessary.

“The driver of Car 44, although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about Car 12 closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to Turn 4 and thereby unnecessarily impeded Car 12 which had to take evasive action,” the stewards noted.

“The driver of Car 44 apologised directly after realising his mistake. The Stewards determined that, despite the more lenient approach to impeding in Free Practice, the impeding was unnecessary and that a Warning to the driver is warranted.”

Tough Friday for Hamilton

Hamilton endured a tricky Friday in Spielberg, finishing ninth and 10th fastest in the two practice sessions.

Charles Leclerc ended FP2 fifth-fastest, nearly four tenths ahead of Hamilton, after sitting out of FP1 so that Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic could make his F1 practice debut.

Hamilton complained of a lack of pace in his Ferrari during FP2 despite the Italian outfit bringing a host of upgrades to Austria.

These include a completely redesigned new floor in what marks Ferrari’s first upgrade package since the Bahrain Grand Prix in April.