Lewis Hamilton's clever trick to avoid FIA penalty

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari came up with a clever trick at the Brazilian Grand Prix to avoid the dismal weekend bleeding into the seven-time F1 world champion's end of season plans.

When Hamilton was running around the track last of the remaining runners with a badly damaged Ferrari, the Brit must have been very tempted to just return to the pits and end his afternoon early.

But he didn't do that until lap 40 out of 71, despite the fact it was abundantly clear that he was not going to score any points.

The reason? Well, the team wanted to ensure that Hamilton served his five-second time penalty given to him for the lap two collision with Franco Colapinto before he retired from the race, to avoid carrying it over into the upcoming Las Vegas GP.

Had Hamilton have not served his penalty during the race, it would have been converted into a grid drop for the race later this month.

At the Italian GP, Hamilton had a penalty from the Dutch GP converted into a grid drop for Ferrari's home race, in what was a bitter blow to his chances of scoring a podium at that event.

But the team have made sure that won't be the case in Vegas, and Hamilton will be hoping for a clean weekend in the third US-based race of the season, having now been impacted by penalties at four of the last six race weekends.

Hamilton's hunt for a podium

It's safe to say that Hamilton's first season at Ferrari has not been all he would have hoped for, but he does still have something to work towards in the final three race weekends.

Never has the seven-time world champion gone a full season without claiming a single grand prix podium, but he is very much in danger of doing that in 2025.

Hamilton is currently sat sixth in the drivers' championship, and has not even come close to challenging for a grand prix victory in 2025, but he has finished fourth on four occasions, oh so close to that elusive Ferrari podium.

It's not going to make any difference to his season necessarily, but getting that monkey off his back before the 2026 season will give him more confidence, and allow the Brit to focus on trying to add to his career race victories tally in 2026.

Next season sees a complete overhaul of the current regulations, which means that Ferrari could make a jump on their rivals, potentially putting Hamilton in a position to once more challenge for race wins.

READ MORE: Hamilton collides with rival as F1 star crashes OUT of Brazilian Grand Prix

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