F1 2026: Lewis Hamilton impeding incidents and FIA action explained

Lewis Hamilton

Why Lewis Hamilton keeps angering F1 rivals as FIA take action

He's getting to know the stewards pretty well!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Tuesday 6 October 2026 09:44

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What's going on with Lewis Hamilton getting in the way of other F1 drivers lately, huh?

The seven-time world champion has been making a habit of having drivers cuss him out on team radio of late, often for what they see as getting in the way of them on their hot laps.

Generally speaking, it's been an issue in free practice rather than qualifying, meaning that he's racking up occasional fines and/or reprimands rather than piling grid penalty upon grid penalty.

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The exception to that came just before the summer break in Hungary, when Hamilton was judged to have impeded Oscar Piastri in qualifying and was handed a grid penalty which dropped him down from second on the grid to fifth.

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Hamilton under fire at the Madring

The incidents have really been piling up fast since the summer break. While he wasn't ever asked to the stewards' room to explain himself at the Madring last month, the Brit had multiple drivers fuming on the radio.

Nico Hulkenberg was the first, getting caught behind the cruising Ferrari at the tight final complex, and complaining: "Oh my god. I mean, that's just nasty, he could've easily let me by, and I finish the lap and easily let him by again."

The second incident was perhaps more interesting, with Carlos Sainz complaining that Hamilton didn't get far enough left on La Monumental when letting him past - squeezing the Spaniard toward the bottom of the track and marginally off the throttle.

"Lewis, letting me by in the middle of Turn 12, it's always the same," he said.

"It's so dangerous. Like it takes zero effort to be two meters more to the left. Zero effort..."

Arvid Lindblad and Yuki Tsunoda both expressed their frustrations over the radio in Spain too, with the tight walls of the street circuit doing nobody any favours that weekend. Again though, notably, nothing Hamilton did that weekend ever reached the level where the stewards got involved.

Hamilton impeding incidents: Who is to blame?

Some have questioned whether Hamilton's Ferrari team are actually the ones to blame for the frequency of these incidents (including some at GPFans), but the investigation into his impeding of Liam Lawson in Baku would suggest that's not necessarily the case.

The stewards gave the Brit a formal reprimand for that incident, and noted very early in their written ruling that he had been warned twice by his team on the radio that the Racing Bulls car was approaching.

Aside from the Piastri incident in Hungary (in which Hamilton was warned about the McLaren, but late), the reprimand is the most severe punishment doled out to him so far this season.

The team was fined for an incident involving Hamilton impeding Gabriel Bortoleto in Sepang just a week later, with Hamilton complaining that he couldn't see out of his right-hand mirror.

A number of people picked up on the note that Ferrari - and his race engineer Carlo Santi - didn't warn Hamilton about the Brazilian's approach, blaming them for the post-session visit to the stewards. However, that was simply team procedure. Bortoleto wasn't on a push lap at the time, and radio warnings are for drivers on push laps.

What have we learned from looking at the incidents laid out like this?

Well, that no one party is at fault for Hamilton's impeding incidents, that sometimes 'Stuff Happens', and that drivers love to complain on the radio.

Seriously, listen to the radio transmission of almost any impeding incident. It barely matters who they're talking about, the offended driver will complain that the driver in the way of them is absolutely chronic for impeding. 'Ah, it's every time with this guy!', 'why does he always do this', etc.

Either every driver on the grid is a chronic impeder of other drivers, or there's something about coming across a car going 100mph slower than you and having to ruin your own push lap that gets already on-edge F1 drivers a bit excitable in the moment that it happens. Can't imagine which.

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Chris Deeley - Editor

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