Ferrari condemns “harsh” Lewis Hamilton penalty in F1 Belgian GP
Ferrari feels Lewis Hamilton's penalty for colliding with George Russell was harsh.
The Ferrari Formula 1 team has criticised the penalty issued to Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix, describing it as “harsh”.
Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty for an opening lap collision with George Russell that resulted in the Mercedes driver getting beached in the gravel at Les Combes and retiring.
The seven-time world champion served his penalty during his one and only pit stop and ultimately finished fourth, having overtaken McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the closing stages.
But Ferrari has made it clear it disagrees with the penalty.
"I think it's a bit harsh because it's Lap 1, so far into the season there was no penalty [for similar]," Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur told F1 TV after the race.
"If you have a look on the corner at Russell, he had space on the left-hand side. It's not that he was close to the wall. I think it's more a racing incident for me."
Hamilton also felt the penalty was disproportionate, despite the stewards outlining their explanation for punishing him.
"It was ultimately a difficult weekend," Hamilton said afterwards.
"I take all the responsibility for my incident yesterday [when he crashed in FP3], which then had a knock-on effect of the setup not being right, and then out of place in qualifying. Because I think with the setup right, I would have been probably, I think I could have been fifth or third or second.
"And then, that meant starting further back, and then I was in a position where George obviously looked like he lost power, and then he just swooped around on the outside, and we just sort of had a coming together.
"I got damaged, and then in the race, I did the best I could with the damage that I had, and then also the penalty. I think it was a racing incident, so I don't think there should be a penalty for that.”
Hamilton revealed he plans to reach out to Russell, who considered the collision to be a “racing incident” and felt no penalty was necessary, after the race.
"I'll text him later on because we won't get to see [each other],” Hamilton added.
“Everyone rushes out it here. I was thinking that's the last thing you ever want to do is come together with your teammate or with your old team who you highly respect.”
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