FIA explains why Lewis Hamilton was punished after his dramatic crash with George Russell at the Belgian Grand Prix.
George Russell had a dramatic crash with Lewis Hamilton on the very first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, which led to a penalty for the seven-time world champion. Unfortunately, this weekend’s race at Spa didn’t go well for Hamilton, as he had to retire and missed out on any championship points. This setback means he’s now falling behind his teammate and title rival, Kimi Antonelli, who went on to win the race.
The race officials blamed Hamilton for the crash and gave him a five-second penalty. He served this penalty in the pits, where his team couldn’t touch his car until it had been stopped for five seconds.
Right after the incident, Hamilton defended himself on the team radio, saying, “The car crossed right in front of me. I was right behind another car, so I had no front end.” On the other hand, Russell was quite emotional when he spoke to Sky Sports after making it back to the pits. He said, “I just got totally swallowed up down the straight. I lost three positions going into turn 5, and then the incident happened. Maybe I could have gone wider, or he could have braked more. This wouldn’t have happened if I had more speed down the straight. I’m really disappointed.”
Later in the race, Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was involved in a separate crash at the same corner when he touched McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Leclerc managed to get past Piastri, which seemed to affect the McLaren car because Hamilton, who was nearby, also passed Piastri soon after. Even though Hamilton got a punishment for his crash, Leclerc didn’t.
The race officials looked closely at the Leclerc-Piastri incident and explained: Leclerc tried to overtake Piastri on the outside and had enough space to expect racing room. Piastri stayed on the inside, but then lost grip and accidentally hit Leclerc’s car. The officials said Leclerc gave enough space and tried to avoid contact. The crash happened because Piastri lost control, not because of any aggressive move. Since the incident happened early in the race when grip is low and the track is crowded, the officials decided a 5-second penalty was fair for Piastri, rather than the usual 10 seconds.