Lewis Hamilton has questioned why he was penalized in the Mexico City Grand Prix for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, given the lack of penalties for others at the start of the race.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen both cut Turn 2, but Lando Norris retained the lead and Hamilton moved into second place after leading by four wide. Leclerc rejoined the front of the field, letting Norris pass, while Verstappen also fell behind Hamilton when he rejoined the track, with no penalties handed out.
Hamilton was subsequently given a 10-second time penalty for going off track at Turn 4 when he later battled Verstappen, with the stewards believing he had gained a lasting advantage by overtaking Verstappen with this action.
“I was pretty much the same as everyone else around me…” Hamilton said of that incident.
“I had a great start and was able to brake well into Turn 1, I got to P2. I navigated through Turn 2 and Turn 3, I didn’t go off track, others went through, took the position and didn’t get any penalties. It was pretty crazy.”
There was light contact between Hamilton and Verstappen when the Red Bull driver initially tried to overtake at the start of the sequence that led to the penalty, but Hamilton had no complaints about the fight at the time.
“That’s… It felt like racing. I felt great there. It was just the cutting, and I’m the only one who got a 10-second penalty.
“I squeezed the right front and wanted to pull off the exit, but it was the dustiest place on earth. I couldn’t slow the car down, so I ended up mowing the lawn.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur also felt the penalty imposed on Hamilton was severe, especially considering the impact it had in dropping him from third on the way to finishing in eighth place.
“If you look at the overall picture, you see that Max cut the corner earlier and cut the chicane, on the grass, 100 meters. I don’t think it was very well managed, to be honest,” he said. “Also, because you are in Mexico, I am not saying that you should adapt the punishment to the job, but that you should understand what you are doing.
“[Hamilton] it lasted 10 seconds, which put us at the back of the group and prevented us from overtaking. After the pit stop you no longer have a chance to recover. This probably cost us P4. Even with a five-second time penalty, I think we were still in P4. But with 10 seconds…’
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