Why Hamilton’s F1 Dutch GP infraction triggered a penalty for Monza

There's nothing uncommon in drivers messing up the pre-race routine and getting punished for that.

Lewis Hamilton himself picked up two penalties in Sochi, 2020 for misinterpreting then-race director Michael Masi's directions on apply begins, performing them in a spot which the stewards deemed inappropriate – and due to this fact needed to serve two five-second penalties throughout the race.

There have been extra examples like that in recent times, which makes Hamilton's Sunday penalty specific within the sense that the stewards solely introduced their determination after the race.

What did Hamilton do fallacious?

Primarily, Hamilton was penalised for going too quick throughout his reconnaissance laps – notably within the final nook, the banked part resulting in the beginning grid. Because of the nature of the monitor, earlier than the occasion the race director Rui Marques knowledgeable drivers – and groups through his official notes, issued forward of every weekend – that throughout the pre-race procedures the sunshine panel 18, situated subsequent to the exit of the final nook, can be exhibiting a double-yellow sign. That meant drivers wanted to decelerate considerably and be able to cease, as the principles specify.

Based on the stewards' determination doc, Hamilton did scale back his pace by round 20kph in comparison with apply laps – however that wasn't thought of sufficient. Moreover, he was present in breach of Article 44.1, which “requires all drivers protecting multiple reconnaissance lap to drive down the pit entry highway” at “enormously decreased pace”.

The stewards famous Hamilton decreased his throttle software by solely 10–20% and braked 70 metres earlier – which they judged as not adequate.

But these incidents occurred greater than half an hour earlier than the beginning – and in idea, there was time to decide. Had that occurred, Hamilton would most certainly have obtained a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, which is the sanction beneficial within the penalty tips that the FIA made public earlier this 12 months for transparency.

That penalty is precisely what's “prescribed” for drivers ignoring double-yellow flag indicators – which was the very offence Hamilton was investigated for, even when it occurred throughout the pre-race process.

Why was the penalty not quick?

The intriguing query is why the stewards waited till after the race to make their ruling.

Of their official doc, the stewards in Zandvoort – Nish Shetty, Matthew Selley, Natalie Corsmit and former F1 driver Pedro Lamy – defined: “We regarded by the obtainable telemetry throughout the FIA system. We additionally requested the workforce to offer us with their telemetry knowledge. All of this took a while and this determination was delayed consequently.”

It seems the stewards merely didn't have sufficient info on the time – and Ferrari's communication contradicted the FIA's preliminary knowledge.

So, as a substitute of issuing Hamilton a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, which might have needed to be served shortly after the race begin and would have ended any likelihood of a outcome, they determined to attend till after the grand prix to listen to from the workforce engineers and look at their knowledge.

Ferrari was summoned at 17:05 native time, about half an hour after the chequered flag. Solely then did the stewards really feel that they had sufficient info to make their determination. As a substitute of making use of the complete penalty, they thought of “mitigating circumstances” – particularly, that Hamilton did decelerate, even when not sufficient.

Usually, when a driver can't serve a stop-and-go, it's transformed right into a 10-place grid drop, in response to the identical FIA tips. However on this case the stewards decreased it to 5 locations. Hamilton additionally obtained “solely” two penalty factors on his licence, as a substitute of the standard three for such an offence.

The draw back of the delayed determination is obvious: had Hamilton been given the penalty throughout the race at Zandvoort, it could not have modified his outcome. Now, nonetheless, his Monza weekend – his first with Ferrari – will likely be compromised.