Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur blasted the inconsistency of stewarding at the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, after Lewis Hamilton received a 10-second time penalty.
The Briton was running in third place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez when he came under threat from old adversary Max Verstappen.
On Lap 6, Hamilton and Verstappen became engaged in a testy and fraught battle for position, which resulted in Hamilton locking up at Turn 4 and taking to the grass and the exit road.
The Ferrari emerged ahead, but he was soon slapped with a penalty that contributed to him finishing eighth, a huge disappointment given he had been in the running for a podium.
Vasseur explained that perhaps a top-three finish was out of the question, regardless, but rued the decision, given that other drivers, in his view, had committed similar actions.
“This cost us P4… One thing is the penalty, for sure, that we didn’t follow the race director’s notes,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“But 10 seconds, I don’t remember when someone took 10 seconds.
“If you consider, if you have the global picture, saying that Max cut the corner before, he cut the chicane, in the grass, 100 metres. I think it’s not very well managed, honestly.
“Because you are in Mexico, on top of this, I don’t say that you have to adapt the penalty to the track, but you have to understand what you are doing.
“He took the 10 seconds. This dropped us at the queue of the group and we can’t overtake.
“It’s after the pitstop that you have no issue to recover. This cost us, probably P4, even with the five seconds, I think we were still P4. But with 10 seconds…”
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