Lewis Hamilton has questioned why he was given a penalty within the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix for leaving the observe and gaining a bonus, given the dearth of punishments for others at the beginning of the race.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen each reduce Flip 2 however Lando Norris retained the lead and Hamilton slotted into second place after a four-wide entry. Leclerc rejoined on the head of the sector and let Norris by, whereas Verstappen additionally dropped behind Hamilton when again on observe, with no penalties handed out.
Hamilton then acquired a 10-second time penalty for going off observe at Flip 4 when preventing with Verstappen in a while, with the stewards deeming he gained an enduring benefit by overtaking Verstappen with the transfer.
“I used to be just about the identical as all the opposite individuals round me…” Hamilton mentioned of that incident.
“I had an amazing begin, and good braking into Flip 1, I used to be into P2. I navigated by way of Flip 2 and Flip 3, I didn’t go off-track, others reduce it, obtained the place and didn’t get penalties. It was fairly nuts.”
There was mild contact between Hamilton and Verstappen because the Purple Bull driver initially tried to overhaul at the beginning of the sequence that led to the penalty, however Hamilton had no complaints concerning the struggle at that stage.
“That’s… It felt like racing. I used to be tremendous there. It was simply the chopping, and I’m the one one to get a 10-second penalty.
“I pinched the fitting entrance, I went to go down the exit highway, however it was the dustiest place on earth. I couldn’t gradual the automobile down, so I ended up chopping the grass.”
Ferrari workforce principal Fred Vasseur additionally felt the punishment handed out to Hamilton was harsh, notably given the affect it had on dropping him from third on the highway to a end of eighth place.
“In case you think about the worldwide image, seeing that Max reduce the nook earlier than, he reduce the chicane, on the grass, 100 meters. I feel it is not very nicely managed, truthfully,” he mentioned. “Since you are in Mexico, on prime of this, I do not say that you must adapt the penalty to the observe, however you must perceive what you might be doing.
“[Hamilton] took the ten seconds, this dropped us to the again of the queue of the group and we won’t overtake. It is after the pit cease that you haven’t any probability to get better. This value us, in all probability P4. Even with a five-second penalty, I feel we had been nonetheless P4. However with 10 seconds…”
