Lewis Hamilton disagreed with his penalty for the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton has received a five-place grid drop for his visit to Monza as a Ferrari driver.
The stewards punished the seven-time world champion for failing to adequately slow for double yellow flags before the race. They acknowledged that he had reduced his speed, but they ruled that he was still driving too fast – hence the five-place demotion rather than the customary 10.
Speaking in Thursday’s pre-race press conference, Hamilton said he was ‘really shocked’ by the penalty. He called the decision ‘hardcore’.
Hamilton crashed out of the race, which meant his penalty couldn’t be applied in the Netherlands. The sanction comes at the worst possible time for a driver who has only scored six points in his last four starts, including Sprints.
Calum Nicholas says FIA punished for Lewis Hamilton for compromising ‘safety’
Speaking on the F1 Show this week, Calum Nicholas explained why the penalty was fully justified. Nicholas used to work as a mechanic for the Red Bull team.
Generally, Nicholas doesn’t like the stewards distributing penalties. But he makes an exception for matters of ‘safety’.
As an F1 driver, Hamilton has a ‘responsibility’ to ‘take the right precautions’ to protect the crews on the grid. He was also hit with two penalty points for the incident.
Nicholas said: “The penalty for the pit-lane incident… I’m not one for the stewards to get involved and hand out penalties, but ultimately, the one time where I’m happy for the stewards to take action is when it’s about safety.
“From a personal point of view, I’ve been a mechanic stood there at the back of the grid waiting for cars to come in. Round that last corner, you have a real responsibility to everyone stood there doing their jobs to take the right precautions. I’m not surprised by the penalty.”
Could Lewis Hamilton give Charles Leclerc a tow at the Italian Grand Prix?
Hamilton had gone 51 races without a penalty point before Zandvoort, which shows that he does almost always adhere to the rules. This lapse, while slight, has significant repercussions.
Ferrari are quietly confident heading to Monza, but even if Hamilton scores a first Grand Prix pole of the season, he’ll start no higher than sixth. Thus there may be a temptation to prioritise Charles Leclerc, already the lead driver in the standings, this weekend.
Also in the presser, Hamilton was asked about giving Leclerc a slipstream in qualifying. It’s a tactic that’s often used around Monza, the fastest circuit on the calendar.
Hamilton doubts that Ferrari will make that request, particularly because it’s difficult to execute without compromising the driver behind. He finished fifth at this event last season.