Ferrari under fire over ‘not true’ Lewis Hamilton Mexican GP radio message
Ferrari has come under fire for its handling of Lewis Hamilton's mid-race penalty.
Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami, has come under fire for giving his driver misleading information during the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Hamilton was penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while battling with Max Verstappen in the early part of the race, taking to the run-off at Turn 4 before rejoining via the chute at Turn 6.
Lewis Hamilton left confused by mid-race penalty
Initially looked at for not following the race director’s instructions, he was cleared of that but adjudged to have left the track and gained an advantage. However, the message delivered to Hamilton failed to explain that.
“We have 10 second penalty for the incident at Turn 4 with Verstappen. We don’t agree,” Adami said over the radio.
It’s a point picked up on by Karun Chandhok, who had joined David Croft in the Sky F1 commentary box for the race.
“That’s poor communication because you’ve unnecessarily riled up the driver without giving him all of the facts, and I think that’s not actually true,” the ex-F1 racer said.
“He’s not been given a penalty for the incident; he’s been given the penalty because he gained time.”
It was a busy opening for officials after Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Kimi Antonelli scampering across the grass at Turn 1 at the race start.
Prior to his off-track excursion at Turn 4, Hamilton had also banged wheels with Verstappen in the opening complex as the two tussled for position.
Nothing came of those incidents, and ultimately in his battle with Verstappen approaching Turn 4, Hamilton was worse off after finding himself unable to slow his Ferrari on the dirty Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.
Once in the even dirtier run-off, he had no hope of slowing sufficiently to make the return chute as defined in the race director’s notes.
“That’s such **** man,” Hamilton said when informed of the 10-second penalty he was handed.
“The grip is so small there. The grip there is so low.”
Speaking after the race, Hamilton’s response also suggested a misunderstanding of why he was penalised.
“It felt like racing,” he said of his wheel-banging battle with Verstappen in the opening complex.
“I was fine there. It’s just the cutting, and then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty.
“I pinched the right front. I went to go down the exit road, but it’s like the dustiest place on Earth, and then I couldn’t slow the car down, so I ended up cutting the grass.”
In their summary of the incident, the stewards noted that they’d applied the standard penalty for drivers who leave the track and gain a lasting advantage.
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“Car 44 (HAM) locked brakes, left the track at Turn 4 and used the grass area while rejoining in the direction of Turn 5,” officials noted in their conclusion.
“As the driver was unable to follow the route prescribed by the Race Director along the “yellow line” due to an excess of speed, no breach of the Race Director’s Notes is deemed to have occurred.
“However, by leaving the track and cutting the corner, the driver gained a lasting advantage, overtaking Car 1 (VER) and failing to give back the position thereafter.
“The standard penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is therefore imposed.”
Chandhok had questioned why Ferrari hadn’t instructed the seven-time champion to slow down to mitigate the chance of officials applying a penalty.
Hamilton approached the Turn 4 left-hander on Lap 6 wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen, with the Dutchman holding the inside line.
A pinched brake and a tour through the grass saw him rejoin eight-tenths clear of his Red Bull rival, who found himself battling with George Russell and Oliver Bearman – losing out to the Haas.
Hamilton ended the race eighth after dropping from third to 14th with his Lap 23 stop, at which he served the 10-second penalty, before recovering to eighth at the chequered flag.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
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