Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 boss, criticized the FIA five second penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton. The British driver received the penalty for his clash with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez during the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race.
FIA found Hamilton guilty of undue clash with the Perez while they battle for the position through Paul Frere sprint race. The clash between Red Bull and Mercedes left the former with great damage. It forced the Mexican to retire from the race after a trip through gravel.
FIA and Perez blamed Hamilton for the incident that left Red Bull with one driver. However, Wolff supported his driver and claims that his driver was not at fault.
“Absolute racing incident,” said Wolff.
“This is a sprint race. We want to see them racing, and the argument of the damage isn’t valid because he [Perez] was going backwards before then. Massively backwards.
“I think when you look at that corner, they were side-by-side. And yeah, fair enough, it takes two to tango, but it’s a racing incident. For me, that’s pretty clear.”
Hamilton managed to remain on track after the clash with Perez. He finished the race at fourth place behind Pierre Gasly. But five second penalty plunged him to the seventh place at the chequered flag.
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Sprint race challenged the drivers with difficult and tricky conditions. But FIA believes the incident between Hamilton and Perez was avoidable. Therefore, it handed the former with a five second penalty.
FIA further explained the reasons leading to the penalty imposed on the seven times world champion. The statement added that Hamilton only understeered into Perez after touching the kerbs.
“Hamilton was attempting to pass Perez on the inside at Turn 15,” stated the stewards.
“While Perez was giving little room on the inside for Hamilton, Hamilton drove onto the kerb and subsequently understeered into Perez in the wet conditions.
“The Stewards consider that Hamilton was predominantly at fault for causing a collision and order a 5-second penalty.”
Additional to five second penalty which cost him three places, he received two penalty points on his license. Hamilton has only these two points on his license at the moment.
