Anthony Davidson criticises Lewis Hamilton for setting bad example to young drivers in Madrid F1 practice

Sky Sports F1 pundit and ex-Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson has criticised Lewis Hamilton for setting a bad example to young drivers in final practice at the Spanish Grand Prix. 

Hamilton crashed at the final corner having looked set to post the fastest time in FP3 at Madrid, before reversing his Ferrari out of the barriers and attempting to limp his car back to the pits. 

With his front wing lodged beneath his SF-26, Hamilton picked up a puncture to his front-right tyre but continued to drive, ignoring several instructions from the Ferrari pit wall to stop in a safe place. 

Hamilton eventually brought his car to a halt after F1 race director Rui Marques put in a “formal request” to stop driving his damaged Ferrari. 

"It's a formal request, they [the FIA] told us to stop in the safest place possible. Stop before Turn 12 [La Monumental], on the left,” Hamilton’s race engineer Carlo Santi said. 

The seven-time world champion’s actions did not go down well with former F1 driver Davidson. 

"Any young driver that is watching this right now, you don't do that. You just don't do that," Davidson said during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of final practice. 

"That's what you could have tried to do [get back to the pits] but that rule is there for a reason. If it went under the car completely and jacked your front wheels up and there were marshals on the track, you've got to think of all these scenarios.”

Following a length delay, FP3 eventually resumed and was topped by championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes.

Governing body the FIA is yet to issue an update as to whether Hamilton will be investigated for the incident which delayed final practice. 

F1’s 2026 sporting regulations state that "driving with, or failing to stop a car with significant or obvious damage" in a free practice session could be met with either a reprimand or a grid penalty.