LEWIS HAMILTON F1 SPEEDING PENALTY MARTIN BRUNDLE DUBBED AS 'HARSH' QUESTIONED

The pit lane speeding penalty issued to Lewis Hamilton in Hungary has been questioned.

Hamilton was hit with yet another penalty in Hungary

Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson has questioned the five-second time penalty issued to Lewis Hamilton for pit-lane speeding at the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton was hit with his second penalty in two days - and fourth in the past three race weekends - after the stewards found he had exceeded the 80km/h pit lane speed limit by just 0.1km/h during Sunday’s race at the Hungaroring. 

Hamilton finished fourth on the road but the penalty dropped him to fifth behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc once it was applied after he crossed the line. 

Hamilton picked up another penalty in Hungary

Analysing the incident on the SkyPad, former F1 driver Davidson said he could not see what Hamilton did wrong. 

“I’ve looked at this so many times and I can’t work out why he gets a penalty,” Davidson said during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

“For me, he slows down sufficiently well. We’ve got this marker board on the left-hand side that stipulates the 80km /h speed limit. I don’t see that [speeding].

“Let’s have a look at the exit. Obviously knew he was under time pressure to get out in that race with Antonelli. Again, for me, it sounds like he releases the pit lane button on the line itself.

“This guy knows what he’s doing when it comes to white lines and when to press the button. Maybe there was just an error when he was a bit too close to the line on the actual speed of the car and they were just pinged by that. Who knows.

“Strange that it only happened that one time. I don’t have enough data here and I can only go by the sound of when he’s pressing that button. For me, it looked totally fine on the way in, and on the way out.” 

Hamilton finished fourth on the road but was demoted to P5

Fellow ex-grand prix driver turned Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle described the penalty as “harsh”, but acknowledged the rules have to be black-and-white. 

“It’s like being a quarter of a kilo underweight. You’re going to feel aggrieved, but the rules are the rules in that respect,” Brundle said. 

“Where my alarm bells are going off is in Monaco, where a lot of drivers there were getting this 0.1 [over the speed limit], and then of course we had all the shenanigans after the race. 

“They set their pit limiters throughout the weekend, they aim at 59 and a bit if its a 60kp/h limit, or 79 and a bit. They really fine-tune it. We see a lot of penalties on a Friday, a few hungered euros for going over the pit lane speed limit.

“But it’s perceived as a competitive advantage, and when you see how close those lines are with Antonelli for example, if somebody goes ‘0.1’s alright, so 0.3’s alright’ then suddenly you get ahead. 

“So there has to be a cut-off point. Whether it’s the width of the car, the weight of the car, the speed of the car in the pit lane. 

“It’s painful and it’s harsh but it’s the rules, as long as he was actually doing that speed, which they weren’t in Monaco.”

- Lewis Larkam

ASTON MARTIN ESCAPES FIA PENALTY FOR BREAKING CURFEW BEFORE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX PRACTICE

 

CHARLES LECLERC PENALIZED FOR LEAVING TRACK UNNECESSARILY | FIA

 

Charles Leclerc has been handed a 20-second time penalty for leaving the track on several occasions without a justifiable reason.

He drops down from P6 to P8.

#FIA #F1 #MiamiGP

MCLAREN CLAIM FIA TO INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL RULE CHANGE AFTER LAS VEGAS DISQUALIFICATION

McLaren was issued the most severe F1 penalty last weekend in Las Vegas as both of its cars were disqualified from the race.

Getty Images 

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has claimed the FIA is investigating the possibility of making a rule change following its double disqualification in Las Vegas.

Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the race after their skid blocks were found to be excessively worn.

F1 skid blocks are not allowed to be less than 9 mm in thickness at the end of every race, and the automatic penalty for exceeding the allowance is disqualification.

McLaren had no grounds to argue the case due to how technical infringements are managed in F1, leading to the Woking-based squad's painful removal from the race classification.

However, Stella has stated the FIA is exploring the possibility of handing out lesser penalties depending on the scale of the irregularity and the performance gained by doing so.

“We verified together with the technical delegate, that the measurement of the skid thickness was correct,” Stella said.

“Even if the excessive wear is relatively minor and in only one location, (as it was 0.12 mm for Lando and 0.26 mm for Oscar), the regulation is very clear that the rear skids need to be at least 9mm at the end of the race in every location. 

“Unlike sporting or financial rules – there is no proportionality in the application of penalties for technical regulation infringements. 

“The FIA itself has admitted that this lack of proportionality should be addressed in the future to ensure that minor and accidental technical infringements, with minimal or no performance benefits, do not lead to disproportionate consequences. 

“It should also be remembered that the FIA itself emphasised that the infringement was not intentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations, and there were also mitigating circumstances, as we explained to the event stewards.”

McLaren DSQ not due to an 'unreasonable chase of performance'

McLaren has faced an increased threat from Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship following the summer break, who has closed the gap on the McLaren pair over the last handful of rounds.

Following McLaren's disqualification, Verstappen now sits 24 points down on the championship lead with two rounds to go.

The Dutchman has won four of the last seven grands prix, while McLaren has won just two races in the same period.

Stella asserted McLaren's disqualification in Las Vegas was not a result of chasing performance to hold back the four-time champion's threat.

“What happened in Vegas was due to an anomaly in the behaviour of the car, rather than it being the outcome of an excessive or unreasonable chase of performance,” Stella asserted.

“Our way of acting and thinking as a team, with a strong focus on performance, has brought us to where we are today, namely winning two consecutive constructors' titles and having two drivers at the top of the championship with two races to go. 

“We, as a team, constantly learn from experience and we calibrate our approach all the time and we will certainly use any information gained through the situation experienced in Vegas.

- Fergal Walsh

FIA IS BIASED SAYS SIR LEWIS HAMILTON | ON 'LAWNMOWER' MAX VERSTAPPEN GETTING AWAY WITH NO PENALTY

 

QATAR GRAND PRIX 2024 | THE GRID AFTER VERSTAPPPEN PENALTY

BREAKING NEWS: MAX VERSTAPPEN RECEIVES 5 SECOND PENALTY

 

CARLOS SAINZ ON MAX VERSTAPPEN'S SINGAPORE LET-OFF

NORRIS CALLS FOR HARSHER PENALTIES FOR IMPEDING

Formula One should be tougher on drivers who impede others because it has become rife in the sport and nobody seems to care enough, McLaren's Lando Norris said on Thursday.

Red Bull's runaway championship leader Max Verstappen received three summons to the stewards in Singapore last weekend for impeding in qualifying and was handed two reprimands but no grid penalty.

Norris, a good friend of Verstappen, said the Dutch driver should certainly have been penalised for impeding AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda.

LEWIS HAMILTON'S +5 SECONDS PENALTY