Fred Vasseur believes the penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix is severe. The Ferrari boss also defends his driver after the incident with a mechanic in the pits.
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Lewis Hamilton should not have been penalized according to Fred Vasseur. The Ferrari director questioned the stewards’ decision after the Belgian Grand Prix, where the Briton received a five-second penalty for his collision with George Russell on the first lap.
For the Frenchman, the penalty contrasts with how first-lap incidents have been judged since the start of the season.
“Yes, I find this penalty severe, because until now this season, all first-lap incidents were considered racing incidents.”
Ferrari believes Russell had space
Vasseur believes George Russell had enough space to avoid contact with the Ferrari.
“In this situation, Russell had enough space not to close his line to the right and move further left.”
The Scuderia boss, however, acknowledges that the decision rests solely with the stewards.
“Ultimately, I’m not the one making the decisions.”
Even though the stewards noted several mitigating circumstances that saved Hamilton from a heavier penalty, Ferrari remains convinced that the collision was more of a racing incident.
Read more Lewis Hamilton will contact Russell after their collision at Spa
Hamilton completely exonerated after pit incident
Fred Vasseur also commented on the second significant episode of Hamilton’s race: the collision with a mechanic during his pit stop under Virtual Safety Car.
Ferrari was fined after releasing the car while a mechanic was still in front of it.
According to Vasseur, this confusion arose from a very particular situation.
“The problem comes from the fact that we performed a double pit stop and the front wing adjustment only concerned the second part of the intervention. We didn’t want to communicate during the five-second penalty.”
The Frenchman explains that speaking during this period could have caused an even bigger error.
“If we had started communicating, the mechanics could have intervened on the car before the end of the penalty. This is absolutely not Lewis’s mistake.”
Ferrari therefore believes that its driver is responsible neither for the incident with the mechanic, nor, largely, for the collision with George Russell. Despite the penalty received in the race, Hamilton still managed to finish fourth at Spa, confirming the progress shown by the Scuderia in recent weeks.
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