Lewis Hamilton fate sealed as F1 stewards punish Ferrari | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton will keep fourth place in the Belgian Grand Prix after avoiding a sporting penalty for Ferrari’s unsafe release during the race. Hamilton hit one of his mechanics after being shown the green light to put his foot down following a pit stop, prompting immediate concern over their wellbeing.

Fortunately the mechanic was unharmed, though the team was quickly placed under investigation for an unsafe release. The stewards confirmed they would investigate what happened after the session, so that they could hear from Hamilton and a Ferrari team representative about the circumstances of the incident before passing judgement.

The FIA’s penality guidelines for stewards suggested that only a sporting penalty could be given for an unsafe release during a race. However, Hamiltoin avoided that fate as the stewards completely absolved him of any blame and chose instead to fine the team £25,500, a third of which is suspended for the next 12 months.

Explaining their decision, the stewards said: “The team explained the incident occurred in the context of a complex and unusual combination of circumstances. Hamilton had been issued a five-second time penalty for a driving infringement which had to be served before work could commence on the car. Charles Leclerc was in his pit box at the point Hamilton entered the pit lane. Hamilton told his engineer that he wanted a front wing adjustment but that was not conveyed to the super controller.

“Hamilton came into his pit box, served the time penalty and, at the end of the five seconds, one member of the team announced ‘go’ and then ‘0.6 degrees’, the former being an instruction to commence the pit stop and the latter being an instruction for a wing adjustment.

“The tyre change was completed, the jack-man dropped the F1 Car and the super controller activated the green light signal for car 44 to move off. Just as the driver moved off, another mechanic with a front wing tool moved forward into the path of the front right tyre. Before he stepped forward he had his head down looking at the tool and did not see the green light.

“The team acknowledged that for Car 44 to have been released in these circumstances was unsafe and attributed the error to an inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic’s failure to notice the green light. The team committed to undertaking a review of their pit stop procedures to ensure an incident such as this will not be repeated.”

The stewards continued: “The driver was in no respect at fault. Indeed, the driver the stewards realised what had occurred as soon as he commenced to move off and immediately stopped until the mechanic was clear. Far from resulting in a sporting advantage, the incident brought about a sporting disadvantage for Car 44 which was delayed in its pit stop.

In the circumstances, the incident did not justify a sporting penalty but did justify a significant fine on the competitor given that procedural failures of this nature prejudice the safety of mechanics. The Stewards took into account the unusual combination of circumstances which contributed to the confusion within the team – circumstances which would not be in the usual contemplation of the team. For this reason, the Stewards determined to suspend part of the fine but on condition that the team conduct a review of their procedures and submit a report to the FIA outlining remedial steps to be taken.”

Speaking before the stewards confirmed their decision, Hamilton had given his side of the story. He said: “The green light went, and so I went. You’re looking over here [at the light] and not over there [at the mechanic]. That’s more on the team, ultimately. But when it happened, I noticed him and I stopped and what went through my mind at that moment was when Kimi hit and broke the leg, and my heart really sank for a second. I’m really grateful he’s okay.”

The incident he was referring to happened at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Kimi Raikkonen was also shown a green light by the Ferrari mechanics and he hit mechanic Francesco Cigorini as he pulled away. The mechanic suffered a double leg break and was taken to a local hospital. Fortunately, no such damage was done on this occasion.