Lewis Hamilton has been reprimanded and fined by the FIA for crossing the live Qatar Grand Prix circuit by foot following his race-ending crash with Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Advantaged by the Soft tyres, Hamilton got a quick launch off the line and was able to pull alongside Russell on the run towards the first braking zone.
However, Russell ended up sandwiched between his team-mate and Max Verstappen, resulting in an impact that sent both cars spinning.
Hamilton was left stranded in the gravel and retired from the race, but Russell was able to continue on to a strong P4 finish as Mercedes extended its points advantage over Ferrari.
While the Stewards determined that neither driver was predominantly at fault for the incident itself, they did take issue with Hamilton’s actions once he stepped out of his stranded car during the Safety Car intervention.
“After crashing out of the race in Lap 1, the driver of Car 44 abandoned his car in the gravel and ran back to the pits,” the stewards’ verdict read.
“He thereby crossed the track that was live at this time and reached the inside edge of the track just seconds before Car 63 arrived at high speed after exiting the pits. He then continued to walk alongside the track until finally exiting the track.
“During the hearing the driver of Car 44 was very apologetic and realized that the situation could have been very dangerous for him as well as the drivers approaching. The Stewards reinforced the fact that crossing a live track can cause extremely dangerous situations and the drivers have to be very cautious about it.”
In accordance with Article 18.2 of the Sporting Regulations, Hamilton received his first reprimand of the season.
He was also fined a total of €50,000, €25,000 of which is suspended for the remainder of the 2023 F1 campaign.
After initially blaming his team-mate for the race-ending contact, Hamilton has since accepted responsibility for the incident.
“I felt the tap from behind, but I don’t think George probably had anywhere to go. It’s just one of those really unfortunate situations. I mean, I’m happy to take responsibility,” the 38-year-old conceded.
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