Lewis Hamilton slams FIA's 'double standard' after Mexican GP penalty

Ferrari F1 star Lewis Hamilton took to the media pen after the Mexican Grand Prix to suggest 'double standards' were at play after his 10-second time penalty.

The seven-time world champion was slammed with a 10-second penalty for 'leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage' following an on-track battle with Max Verstappen on lap six of the race.

It completely ruined his race, and a potential first grand prix podium with Ferrari became a battle for eighth position after his first pit stop.

Hamilton's trip to the escape road during his battle with four-time champion Verstappen saw him gain about two seconds on his rivals behind, and he failed to give that back, resulting in a 10-second time penalty that Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok called 'harsh'.

Even more frustratingly for Hamilton, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were not handed any repercussions for cutting the corner at turn one on lap one of the race, even though they both came out ahead of Hamilton who at one stage must've thought he was battling Lando Norris for the lead of the race.

Speaking to DAZN after the race, Hamilton said he was unhappy with the FIA's ruling: "Ultimately I feel very let down by the governing body. It’s double standards as you can tell and it is what it is."

Later, when asked by British media about whether he had received an explanation from the FIA regarding the penalty, Hamilton said: "It's kind of pretty much the same as all the other people around me, so...

"It felt like racing, I was fine there, it was just him cutting, and then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty - a 10-second stop and go."

Why was Hamilton awarded a penalty but not Verstappen?

According to FIA race stewards, by leaving the track at turn four and cutting the corner, Hamilton gained a lasting advantage on Verstappen and also failed to give back the position to the Dutchman.

The standard penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage in a race is a 10-second time penalty, according to the FIA’s publicly available penalty guidelines, or a five-second time penalty if there are mitigating circumstances.

In this context, the guidelines state ‘a sporting advantage towards another competitor was gained, either in time or position or maintenance of a position.’ Hamilton did indeed gain extra time by cutting the corner at turn four, therefore the error qualified as a sporting advantage.

But neither Leclerc nor Verstappen were given any form of punishment for their lap one infringements, and Chandhok suggested that this may be because the stewards take a more lenient view on lap one misdemeanours because of the ensuing chaos.

Verstappen also then cut the corner at turn three on lap six, during the same battle that Hamilton was given a penalty for. However, with Verstappen losing out to Oliver Bearman and being overtaken following his mistake, it was thought that Verstappen had actually lost out from cutting the corner, rather than gaining any sort of advantage.

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