The FIA explained why Lewis Hamilton was ultimately not penalized after his dangerous departure from the pits at the Belgian Grand Prix. Ferrari, on the other hand, was heavily penalized.
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Lewis Hamilton almost saw his fourth place at the Belgian Grand Prix challenged. After the race, the FIA stewards investigated a dangerous pit exit during which the Ferrari driver hit a mechanic.
In the end, no sporting penalty was imposed on the Briton. The stewards considered that the responsibility lay entirely with Ferrari, which was fined 30,000 euros, including 10,000 euros suspended.
A series of errors caused the incident
The incident occurred on lap 20, while Lewis Hamilton was making his only stop under Virtual Safety Car conditions.
Before any intervention, the Briton had to serve the five-second penalty received for his collision with George Russell on the first lap. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was occupying the neighboring Ferrari pit.
Hamilton had requested a front wing adjustment by radio before his stop, but this information was never passed on to the coordinator responsible for overseeing the operation.
Once the five seconds had elapsed, a team member gave the signal to start the intervention, while simultaneously announcing the wing adjustment. The tires were changed, the jack was lowered, and the green light was activated.
At the same time, a mechanic stepped in front of the front right wheel with the tool intended to modify the wing. Focused on his equipment, he did not see that the car had been authorized to leave. Hamilton then hit him at low speed.
Hamilton reacted immediately
In their decision, the stewards emphasized that Lewis Hamilton had made no mistake.
Read more Lewis Hamilton feared the worst after hitting a Ferrari mechanic
According to them, the Ferrari driver simply reacted to the green light as any driver would have done. As soon as he realized a mechanic was in front of his car, he immediately stopped.
The stewards also noted that this incident did not provide any sporting advantage to Hamilton. On the contrary, it prolonged his pit stop.
“The driver was in no way responsible. He immediately stopped his car as soon as he understood what was happening,” the stewards explained.
Ferrari will have to review its procedures
The FIA, however, considered that several failures in Ferrari’s internal procedures led to this dangerous situation.
Among the identified causes are late communication regarding the front wing adjustment, a lack of coordination among team members, and the fact that the mechanic did not see the green light.
In addition to its fine, Ferrari must submit to the FIA, within fourteen days, a report detailing the measures implemented to prevent such an incident from happening again.
The stewards nevertheless took into account the unusual nature of this sequence of events, which explains why part of the fine was suspended. Hamilton therefore keeps his fourth place, while Ferrari leaves Spa with the obligation to strengthen its pit lane safety procedures.
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