F1 News: FIA announce LATE punishment for Lewis Hamilton incident after Belgian Grand Prix

Hamilton looking serious next to smiling Vasseur, both in Ferrari F1 kit with blue and white FIA flag background — Photo: © IMAGO

Belgian Grand Prix

FIA announce LATE punishment for Lewis Hamilton incident after Belgian Grand Prix

The FIA have finally announced their verdict concerning Hamilton and Ferrari

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 19 July 2026 19:54 Updated: 20:23

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F1's governing body, the FIA, have confirmed their decision to punish Ferrari following an unfortunate incident during a pit stop made by Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion was punished personally by the stewards early on in Sunday's race when he and George Russell made contact at Turn 5, sending the Mercedes star hurtling off into the gravel.

Though Hamilton was lucky enough to be able to continue his race, Russell was ruled out before his grand prix charge had even begun, with the stewards promptly looking into the incident.

Article continues under video

Several laps later, the 41-year-old was slapped with a five-second penalty which he later served in the pits.

But it was this pit stop that caused further concern for Hamilton and the Scuderia after the Brit knocked over a Ferrari mechanic on his way out.

Thankfully, no physical harm was done to the mechanic, but the FIA have announced after a lengthy deliberation period that Fred Vasseur's squad will have to pay a hefty fine for the mishap.

FIA confirm Ferrari punishment after Hamilton pit stop mess

The race weekend in Spa has turned out to be an expensive one for Ferrari this year after they were fined €5,000 per car on Friday for failing to correctly return their tyres.

Now, over two hours after a Ferrari representative had been summoned to a meeting with the stewards on Sunday, the FIA have confirmed Hamilton's P4 finishing position is safe and that he will not be personally punished with a post-race time penalty.

Instead, the Maranello-based team will have to pay a €30,000 fine, €10,000 of which is suspended for 12 months on the condition they do not commit a similar infringement in the meantime.

After reviewing video evidence and hearing from a Ferrari representation, the full reasoning for the stewards' decision read: "As Car 44 was being released from its pit stop, a mechanic stepped in the path of the front right tyre as the F1 car moved forward. He fell but was not injured.

"The team explained the incident occurred in the context of a complex and unusual combination of circumstances. HAM had been issued a five-second time penalty for a driving infringement which had to be served before work could commence on the F1 car. LEC was in his pit box at the point HAM entered the pit lane.

"HAM told his engineer that he wanted a front wing adjustment but that was not conveyed to the super controller. HAM came into his pit box, served the time penalty and at the end of the five seconds one member of the team announced “Go” and then “0.6 degrees”, the former being an instruction to commence the pit stop and the latter being an instruction for a wing adjustment. The tyre change was completed, the jack-man dropped the F1 car and the super controller activated the green light signal for Car 44 to move off.

"Just as the driver moved off, another mechanic with a front wing tool moved forward into the path of the front right tyre. Before he stepped forward he had his head down looking at the tool and did not see the green light.

"The team acknowledged that for Car 44 to have been released in these circumstances was unsafe and attributed the error to an inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic’s failure to notice the green light. The team committed to undertaking a review of their pit stop procedures to ensure an incident such as this will not be repeated.

"The Stewards determined that the driver was in no respect at fault. Indeed, the driver realised what had occurred as soon as he commenced to move off and immediately stopped until the mechanic was clear. Far from resulting in a sporting advantage, the incident brought about a sporting disadvantage for Car 44 which was delayed in its pit stop.

"In the circumstances, the incident did not justify a sporting penalty but did justify a significant fine on the competitor given that procedural failures of this nature prejudice the safety of mechanics.

"The Stewards took into account the unusual combination of circumstances which contributed to the confusion within the team – circumstances which would not be in the usual contemplation of the team. For this reason, the Stewards determined to suspend part of the fine but on condition that the team conduct a review of their procedures and submit a report to the FIA outlining remedial steps to be taken."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari FIA Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps