F1 in Malaysia: Warning and fine for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari

Once again, Lewis Hamilton has got off with a warning. The Ferrari driver received a warning following an incident in the second practice session in Malaysia – and his team was handed a fine of 10,000 euros.

What happened? During the second practice session, Hamilton got in Gabriel Bortoleto’s way because he was driving too slowly on the racing line. Bortoleto was forced to swerve abruptly. The Audi driver complained loudly: “What’s that bloke doing?” And: “He saw me, didn’t he? Yet he’s still blocking my way.” Shortly afterwards, the Briton radioed that he couldn’t see properly in his mirrors.

The race stewards summoned both drivers and a team representative from each team. It emerged that Hamilton was travelling at 80 to 85 km/h on his cool-down lap, whilst Bortoleto was doing around 240 km/h. Whoa!

Warning for Hamilton, fine for Ferrari

The officials acknowledged that Bortoleto had been obstructed and had to swerve quickly out of the way. However, as Hamilton’s rear-view mirror was indeed damaged – a fact proven by photos and videos – and he had not received a warning via radio that Bortoleto was approaching (and was not on a push lap), the stewards opted for the standard penalty in practice: a warning. As Ferrari failed to inform Hamilton, they must pay a fine of 10,000 euros.

Hamilton: a repeat slow driver

Hamilton has recently become a regular visitor to the stewards’ room for dawdling on the racing line. He had already been summoned after practice in Baku for getting in the way of Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls car in the tricky section on the long straight through turns 16 to 18. He got off with a warning there too.

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After Friday’s practice sessions, Hamilton said: “Overall, it was a challenging day with very little grip available on the track. It wasn’t easy to find the right balance, but that seemed to be a general problem across the whole field.”

Commenting on the Scuderia’s programme, the Briton said: “Over the course of the sessions, we tried out various set-up directions, and now the focus is on analysing the data and finding the right compromise. We don’t seem to be too far off the pace, but we know there’s still work to be done to better prepare the car for tomorrow.”