Lewis Hamilton summoned by FIA as Max Verstappen incident sparks investigation | F1 | Sport
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were both called to see the Stewards after Monaco Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. An investigation was launched into a Q1 incident in which Hamilton was alleged to have impeded Verstappen while the Red Bull star was on a flying lap.
Hamilton was on a cool-down lap when his Ferrari race engineer, Riccardo Adami, informed him that Verstappen was three seconds behind. Adami mistakenly told the Brit that Verstappen was also on a cool-down lap, and when he came barreling up behind him, the Dutchman had to abort his hot lap in order to avoid a collision.
Verstappen called it ‘massive impeding’, and Hamilton was seen patting him on the shoulder once they got back to the paddock in what seemed like an apology.
An FIA document released after qualifying referenced Hamilton and said: “The driver and team representative are required to report to the Stewards in relation to the incident below. Alleged breach of Article 37.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – Car 44 allegedly impeding Car 1 in turn 3.”
After having time to reflect, Verstappen absolved Hamilton of blame but still expected his F1 rival to be punished. “At the time, you see the car blocking you and when you are there at high speed, it’s not nice,” he told Sky Sports.
“I saw the team told him I was driving slow when I was clearly driving fast, so it’s not Lewis’ fault. I quickly chatted to Lewis about it. It’s very simple but it can’t happen. But that’s the team’s mistake. If you look at the history of things [he should be punished] but it’s more the team’s fault. Normally in qualifying [the FIA] are quite strict on these things.”
Hamilton put his own point across, telling Sky Sports: “I think I was doing a good job of staying out of the way of everyone but then the team said Max was on a fast lap so I was to the left, then they said ‘no he’s not on a fast lap’. I was just about to get back on the power. I accelerated for 10 metres. I was off the line but for sure distracting him.”
Despite Verstappen being forced to abort his quick lap, both he and Hamilton safely made it through to Q2, and then to the Q3 shootout. There, Charles Leclerc showed that Ferrari had the pace to make the front row when he took P2 behind pole-sitter Lando Norris.
But Hamilton could not match his Monegasque team-mate, finishing in P4, and Verstappen could only manage fifth. Hamilton nearly missed qualifying altogether after crashing in FP3, leaving his car in need of significant repairs.
After watching both of his drivers claim top-four spots on the grid, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur said: “[Hamilton] had a crash in final practice, so we had to change the gearbox, front suspension and rear suspension. Honestly, [two hours before qualifying] I was not even sure he would be part of Q1, so it was a good recovery.”
