Jean Alesi, a veteran of 201 grand prix starts, believes the FIA stewards were wrong to penalise Lewis Hamilton for spinning his car around at the Hungarian GP.
Hamilton made a rare mistake as he looked set for victory last Sunday. He span his McLaren as he exited the chicane and span, in order to correct the direction he was facing, he floored the accelerator but as he did so, Force India’s Paul di Resta was forced to take avoiding action.
The former-Ferrari driver and now Lotus ambassador, says the maneuver performed by the 26-year-old wasn’t dangerous considering the circumstances, with speeds at that point on the track hitting just 60km/h.
“I must say, though, I wouldn’t have penalised Lewis Hamilton for spinning his car back around in front of Paul di Resta,” said the Frenchman. “Lewis was in the middle of the track and he was just trying to get out of the way.
“Di Resta wasn’t approaching fast. The speed in that chicane is only 60km/h, nothing dramatic. I felt this was a harsh penalty.”
However, Alesi pointed to the fact that this on its own didn’t ruin Hamilton’s race, the decision to switch to intermediates for just a few laps was the main factor.
“By changing to Intermediate tyres, Hamilton ruled himself out of contention anyway.”
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