Lewis Hamilton facing F1 PENALTY after incident with Red Bull rival at Dutch Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

Dutch Grand Prix

Hamilton facing PENALTY after incident with Red Bull rival at Dutch GP

The seven-time champion was caught up in a qualifying incident

Rhys Thomas

Saturday 24 August 2024 15:51 Updated: 20:25

Lewis Hamilton has been under investigation for an incident in qualifying involving Sergio Perez at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Hamilton was hit with a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race having been found to have impeded Perez.

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The incident was investigated by the stewards after the conclusion of the qualifying session.

The Mercedes driver was attempting to move out of the way of his Red Bull F1 rival when Perez abandoned the lap and bemoaned Hamilton, who he perceived to have impeded him.

Lewis Hamilton is under investigation at the Dutch Grand Prix

Sergio Perez was vocally angry with Lewis Hamilton after the incident

Why does Hamilton have a penalty for the incident with Perez?

Similar incidents in the past have seen a penalty handed to the offending driver, though Hamilton will have argued he did all he could not to block Perez.

He had virtually parked his Mercedes on the grass run-off to try and avoid Perez, though did appear in the way of the 34-year-old at the exit of the swooping Turn 9.

Perez certainly felt Hamilton deserved a penalty, asking, “What the f*** is this idiot doing?” over over team radio

“I was well out of his way,” said Hamilton shortly after, whose uncomfortable qualifying ended prematurely with a shock Q2 exit.

Lewis Hamilton qualified in P12 before any potential penalty

Over team radio in the aftermath of Q1, Perez was still unimpressed despite getting through: “Yeah but we f****** waste a set [of extra tyres] so please, for worse than that I’ve been penalised, so I don’t expect any less.”

Having been handed a penalty by the FIA, Hamilton will start from P14 having gone out of Q2 in 12th with a messy lap.

It would have been P15 had Alex Albon not been disqualified from P8 following a technical infringement.

After winning two of the past three races, it is a difficult return after the summer break for the outgoing Silver Arrows man.

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Sergio Perez Dutch Grand Prix