F1 News: Lewis Hamilton facing FIA penalty at Belgian Grand Prix after Ferrari blunder

Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton facing FIA penalty at Belgian Grand Prix after Ferrari blunder

This would be a blow to Lewis Hamilton's championship chase

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 17 July 2026 19:06 Updated: 20:10

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Ferrari were reported to the stewards at the Belgian Grand Prix, for an incident which could have led to a grid drop for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for Sunday's F1 race.

Ferrari were not on top form during Friday's two practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps, with Hamilton and Leclerc finishing fourth and 11th respectively in FP2.

The circuit is not expected to be a favourite for their SF-26, with the long straights and high-speed corners exposing the limits of their power unit compared to Mercedes.

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And in more bad news, FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer revealed that the team were also sent to see the stewards after Friday's practice sessions for an alleged tyre infraction.

It has since been announced that Ferrari have been penalised for the infringements involving both Hamilton and Leclerc's cars.

Ferrari have been handed a €5,000 fine for each car, meaning they will have to pay a total of €10,000 for the error.

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FIA could penalise Hamilton and Leclerc

The full statement from the FIA relating to Ferrari's blunder read: "Following FP1, the Scuderia Ferrari HP team electronically returned two sets of dry-weather tyres (sets 16-301 & 16-401) for Car 16 (LEC) in accordance with Articles B6.4.1 and B6.3.8 a) iii).

"However, the corresponding tyres were not physically returned to the appointed tyre supplier before the start of the FP2. This is non-compliant with Article B6.4.2.

"I am reporting these matters to the stewards for their consideration."

The same wording of the statement was then also released for car 44 - Hamilton's SF-26.

What's the usual punishment for such a misdemeanour?

Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins said live on air that it could have led to a one-place grid penalty at least for the two drivers, with the analyst saying that a similar thing happened to her when she worked for Aston Martin.

"At the end of FP1, most people use two tyres then they have to be electronically returned in the system to tell Pirelli which tyres you give back and which you leave - they are all barcoded and scanned in and out," Collins said.

"But they have to physically be sent back to Pirelli. The reason they have to physically be sent back is Pirelli look at them for damage, cuts, anything they need to change in the tyre - the pressures, safety issues.

"When Aston Martin did it, we physically returned the tyres but didn't electronically return the right tyre. We got a one-place grid penalty for Nico Hulkenberg and were very sore about that.

"The fact it hasn't been physically returned is more of an issue because the idea is you could have used that tyre for pit stop practice, Pirelli don't have all the right data. In my opinion, that needs to be more of a slap on the wrist, it needs to be a penalty."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari FIA