Hamilton handed 5-place Italy grid drop for Dutch GP error

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton will take a five-place grid penalty to his team’s home race in Monza for infractions committed during the laps to the grid ahead of Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.

On the usual reconnaissance laps 45 minutes before the start of the race, Hamilton was deemed to have driven too fast approaching the pitlane, contravening a specific request from the FIA’s race director Rui Marques.

Marques had taken additional safety precautions given Zandvoort’s banked, flat out final corner, with drivers then having to rapidly commit to the pit entry road if they wanted to come in.

As a result, the race director’s briefing informed drivers that the final corner would have double yellow flags waves on the laps to the grid, to force drivers to further reduce speeds while personnel gathered on the starting grid.

But the stewards felt that Hamilton hadn’t slowed down enough to satisfy a double yellow condition on two consecutive out laps, and handed him a five-place grid penalty to be served next weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.

“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,” the stewards’ verdict read. 

“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% to 20% 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.”

Hamilton, who retired from the race after crashing out in Turn 3, also received his first two penalty points over the past 12 month period.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: John Thys / AFP via Getty Images

The seven-time world champion’s team-mate Charles Leclerc avoided a sanction for his Turn 12 clash with George Russell.

Leclerc lunged up the inside of the banked left-hander as the pair traded a glancing blow, while it also appeared as though the Ferrari driver had cut the apex to make his move.

The stewards ruled that there was no clear evidence that confirmed Leclerc had cut the track, and also didn’t apportion blame for the contact to either driver, resulting in no further action.

The stewards wrote: “We investigated, with the benefit of the driving standards guidelines, whether either driver should have done something different. We also looked into whether Car 16 remained on the track or left the track at Turn 12. The available evidence was inconclusive as to whether Car 16 left the track. Both team representatives were in agreement that there was no clear evidence that Car 16 had left the track.

“Both drivers felt that this was a racing incident and that there should be no further consequence to either driver for the incident. We reviewed all the available evidence and arrived at the same conclusion. We accordingly took no further action.”

Leclerc also retired from the race later on after being punted into the wall by Russell’s team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli received a 10-second penalty and two penalty points, bringing his total up to four.

The penalty, which was already handed out before the end of the race and applied to the on-the-flag result, dumped the Italian out of the top 10.