Lewis Hamilton admits he was left “shocked” by the “hardcore” five-place grid penalty he has been given for weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton says he will “learn from it” and is “very motivated” to make up the ground he will lose on Sunday’s grid on his first Monza weekend as a Ferrari driver.
The seven-time world champion will start Ferrari’s home grand prix no higher than sixth after stewards at Zandvoort ruled he had failed to slow sufficiently for double-waved yellow flags on his reconnaissance laps to last Sunday’s grid.
Although the incident occurred in the 40 minutes before the race started, it was not investigated until after its conclusion and once they had spoken to Hamilton. The decision was made to drop him five places on the Monza grid and issue two points on his superlicence, in the hours after a race he had crashed out of.
Speaking about the sanction for the first time on F1’s arrival at Monza on Thursday, Hamilton replied when asked if he was frustrated by the timing of the penalty being issued: “Of course.
“I don’t know how the other drivers felt about the decisions from the last race, but when I landed back home and saw I got this penalty, I was really shocked, to be honest.
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See the yellow flag infringement before the start of the Zandvoort race which earned Lewis Hamilton a five-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix
“But it is what it is. It’s obviously not black and white. The fact is if you look at the [stewards’] report, I did lift but to their liking not enough, so that’s why I guess they’re saying not more.
“To get the penalty and get penalty points was pretty hardcore, but I learn from it and there is no point whinging about it, I’ll move forwards.
“It’s going to be challenging this weekend. Qualifying is already so close between us all. So just getting into Q3 is tough, getting in the top five is very, very tough and on top of that to be set back five places is not great when you’re going into your first Monza GP with Ferrari.
“But it gives me more to fight for and I’m very motivated to make up those places, regardless.”
What Dutch GP stewards ruled
From the official stewards’ verdict issued to confirm Lewis Hamilton’s five-place Monza grid penalty:
“Due to the nature of the track, the Race Director had informed all participants that the last corner before the pit lane would have double yellow flags waved. This was to ensure the safety of those on the grid and in the pit lane.
“The regulations require that any driver passing through a double waved yellow flag marshalling sector ‘reduce speed significantly…’.
“We looked through the available telemetry within the FIA system. We also requested the team to provide us with their
telemetry data. All of this took some time and this decision was delayed as a result.
“In addition, Article 44.1 requires all drivers covering more than one reconnaissance lap to drive down the pit entry road at ‘greatly reduced speed’.
“The data showed that the driver had entered the double yellow sector approximately
20kph less than his speed at the same point in practice sessions, had reduced throttle application in the order of 10 per cent to 20 per cent and had lifted and braked 70 metres
earlier when entering the pit lane.
“We did not consider that a 20kph reduction in speed at a double waved yellow sector constituted reducing speed ‘significantly’’.
“We also did not consider the speed at which the driver entered the pit entry road as being at a ‘greatly’ reduced speed.
“The penalty guidelines for such an infringement would ordinarily attract a penalty of 10 grid positions at the next race.
However, given that the driver had made an attempt to reduce his speed and to brake earlier, we took that into account as mitigating
circumstances and imposed a five-grid place penalty.”
‘Emotional rollercoaster’ – Hamilton on first Ferrari year
Still waiting his first Ferrari podium after 15 races in motorsport’s most famous red, Hamilton admitted his first year at Maranello had been an “emotional rollercoaster” and proved more “volatile in terms of the feeling” than he envisaged.
But he is optimistic they are now “coming out on the brighter end of the tunnel”.
And, appearing in high spirits in Thursday’s press conference, Hamilton said he had been further buoyed by the “unique experience” of attending a Ferrari event in central Milan on Wednesday night alongside team-mate Charles Leclerc in front of several thousand fans.
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“I read something recently where it was saying there’s no point stressing about tomorrow because it often puts shade on the present,” said Hamilton.
“I’m really trying not to worry about tomorrow, I’m really trying to be present and enjoy every moment because this half of the season has gone by really quick. This is my first half of the season with this team and there’s obviously a long way to go but I don’t want to miss any of these special moments that we’re having.
“Like, for example yesterday, like my first Monza in Ferrari red. When I leave the garage [on Friday], it’s going to be incredibly special coming into this circuit and it just really reflects on when I was a kid watching Michael [Schumacher] winning here and now I get to have that opportunity, that experience of being on the receiving end of the Tifosi.
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Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari woes continue as he crashes out of the Dutch Grand Prix.
“I want to give absolutely everything this weekend to get the best result for them because the passion and the support they’ve given me and this team is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
What happened in Hamilton’s Zandvoort crash?
Hamilton was also encouraged by his performance at Zandvoort, despite his race uncharacteristically ending in the barriers.
He qualified just behind Leclerc, who he had led throughout practice, and was pressuring Mercedes’ George Russell for sixth in the race before he spun out when drizzly rain started to fall.
Asked if it had been the most comfortable he had felt up to the crash in the SF-25 this year, Hamilton said: “Definitely in the race. And I think throughout the weekend, the approach that we had was spot on and I felt like it was one of our strongest, if not the strongest, and smoothest weekends up until, obviously, Sunday that we had had.
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Lewis Hamilton crashed out in the race and suffered two huge spins as his struggles at Ferrari continued in the Dutch Grand Prix.
“Sunday was obviously both disappointing and unfortunate, that’s not the result that we want. I said that it’s unusual for me because I don’t really make a lot of mistakes in races like that, but the great thing is that the team remained really, really positive.
“They’re incredibly supportive every single weekend and so though, personally, you don’t feel great about it, they lift your spirits.
“Then the following days, they were deep diving to try to understand what led to it because it wasn’t a case of a lack of concentration.
“There were several things that contributed to it. For example, I had a downgraded upshift which locked the rear wheels and spat the rear end out.
“But, also, it was spitting. I was like 10mm wider or something like that or 10cm wider, than I was the previous lap. So there are a combination of things. Either way, it’s not great and I learn from it and move forward.
“So, if I apply that same approach this weekend to the following races, I really feel positive of the direction we’re going.”
Sky Sports F1’s Italian GP Schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Italian Grand Prix
Friday September 5
8.30am: F3 Practice
9.55am: F2 Practice
12pm: Italian Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 12:30pm)*
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.35pm: Italian Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday September 6
8.10am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Italian Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 11:30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Italian Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
3pm: ITALIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday September 7
7.10am: F3 Feature Race
8.40am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s European season concludes with the Italian Grand Prix – watch the whole Monza weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime