FIA confirms Lewis Hamilton penalty after Oscar Piastri investigation
The FIA has handed out a penalty
Lewis Hamilton has been handed a three-place grid penalty by the FIA stewards for impeding Oscar Piastri in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.
It sees the Ferrari driver drop to fifth on Sunday’s grid in Budapest.
FIA confirms three-place grid penalty for Lewis Hamilton
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Hamilton originally qualified second in Saturday’s qualifying session as Lando Norris, the McLaren driver and reigning world champion, set pole position.
Hamilton found himself under investigation after the session for impeding the sister McLaren of Piastri on the final runs of Q3.
The stewards have imposed a three-place penalty on Hamilton, dropping him to fifth on the grid.
Hamilton’s penalty sees Charles Leclerc promoted to the front row, with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli – who finds himself under two separate investigations after qualifying – rising to third as it stands.
Piastri also moved up ones spot to fourth.
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The stewards’ report read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 81 (Oscar Piastri), team representatives and reviewed video, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“At the approach to Turn 1, Car 44 was travelling at a significantly reduced speed on the racing line while Car 81 was approaching on a push lap.
“The driver of Car 44 explained that he had just completed a fast lap and did not receive the team’s radio message regarding the approaching Car 81 until the latter was already in close proximity.
“He further stated that, due to the positioning of his car on the track, Car 81 was not visible in his mirrors.
“Car 81, which was on a push lap, was forced to take avoiding action by running wide and being obliged to abort the lap.
“Having examined the available evidence, the Stewards determined that Car 44 unnecessarily impeded Car 81 during qualifying.
“In accordance with the FIA F1 Regulations and the established penalty guidelines for this type of infringement in Qualifying, the Stewards impose a three-place grid penalty on the driver of Car 44.”
Speaking before his penalty was confirmed, Hamilton revealed that he was informed late by Ferrari that Piastri’s car was approaching.
He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in the post-qualifying press conference: “I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me, so I had no idea he was coming.
“Everyone came out behind me, I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished their lap.
“I think Charles was the car that was behind me when I left the pit lane as far as I was aware.
“Crazy because it’d been [a] clean [session] and obviously it wasn’t intentional.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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