Lewis Hamilton F1 News: Miami Grand Prix FIA penalty verdict announced

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Hamilton Miami FIA penalty verdict announced

Mercedes were summoned over a pit-lane incident at the Sprint Qualifying in Miami

Yara Elshebiny

Saturday 4 May 2024 15:44 Updated: 13:17

After a disappointing Sprint Qualifying for Mercedes, the team were summoned to the stewards over an incident during the session.

The 2024 Miami Grand Prix has been a weekend of frustration so far for the Silver Arrows, with the Brit facing the stewards again on Saturday after being hit with a penalty after a dramatic sprint race.

Article continues under video

A poor Sprint qualifying saw both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton knocked out in SQ2, leaving them a lowly P11 and P12 on the grid for Saturday's Sprint.

However, their woes didn't end there. The stewards summoned the team over a pit-lane incident involving Hamilton.

During the second Sprint Qualifying session, as the seven-time champion came into the pits, team members appeared to be without helmets while working on his car's front wing, which breaches Article 34.13 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

Lewis Hamilton starts the Sprint from P12

Mercedes were summoned over a pit-lane incident at the Sprint Qualifying in Miami

FIA's Hamilton verdict

Following an investigation into the incident, the FIA has opted for no further action against Mercedes or Lewis Hamilton.

The official document released by the FIA stated, "The Stewards heard from the team representative and reviewed video evidence and determined that team personnel carried out work on Car 44’s front wing while it was in its pit stop position during the sprint qualifying session and were not wearing the required protective gear.

"This was in breach of Article 34.13 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. However, as we were examining the conduct of the team in relation to this infringement (which was reported to us by Race Control), it came to our attention that a number of other teams had engaged in similar work without helmets and/or without eye protection during the session, either within the pit stop position or in close proximity to it.

"Certainly, those that were working on the car within the pit stop positions would also have been in breach of Article 34.13 (for example by touching the car or jacking up the car). Indeed, those slightly outside of their pit stop position may not been in breach of the above article but the distinction, from a safety perspective (which is the likely purpose for this rule), was not obvious to us.

"Furthermore, it appears to be the established practice to jack the car up, while blowers are used to cool the brakes, within the pit stop position to bring the car back into the garage. That too, read strictly, could be in breach of the above regulations.

"So, in these circumstances, penalising one team, where all or nearly all the teams may potentially have been in breach of this article in some form or the other would not serve a useful purpose.

"We accordingly took no further action. However, we request the FIA to consider whether changes need to be made to either the current practices during Qualifying/Sprint Qualifying or the regulations themselves. Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.

"Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented."

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