Hamilton/Ferrari escape without penalty after foul on Lawson: “Drivers are powerless”

Lewis Hamilton’s foul against Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson has had no serious consequences: the English Ferrari superstar was able to convincingly demonstrate to the race stewards that he cannot be held entirely responsible for the precarious situation.

The seven-time Formula 1 champion was seen driving cautiously in front of Liam Lawson during the second practice session, whilst Lawson came charging through at full speed. The New Zealander braked, swerved out of the way and panted over the radio: “I nearly crashed into him! Oh my God, that’s so dangerous!”

Hamilton defended himself in this way, including to race control: “With these cars, it’s so difficult to judge the distances properly; we drivers are partly helpless in that regard. I was about four seconds ahead of Lawson going into the final corner, but apparently that wasn’t enough for the following straight.”

“We’ve discussed it, and I’m sure we’ll bring it up again at the drivers’ briefing on Thursday evening. With the rules the FIA has given us this year, there’s no data or simulations over the weekend to tell us: “OK, when you enter the final corner, go full throttle and have 500 PS less than the car behind you on this lap, this is the gap you need before he catches you.” They don’t tell you at what speed he’s catching up.”

“I went into the final corner at full throttle. I could see Lawson, but I thought the gap was big enough. But when I went full throttle, it was as if the car had simply cut out, and Liam closed the gap massively. And that can happen to any of us.”

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“It would help us if we were given clearer guidelines, because none of the drivers wants to get into trouble. None of them is trying to get in anyone’s way. Our only aim is to get out of the way whilst still completing our lap. And I think we’ll discuss in the drivers’ briefing what we could do better in that regard.”

“I’ve told them what we should do: when we’re doing a fast lap, we apply maximum power at the exit of the final corner. Then, as you come through Turn 19, that’s reset, and you’ve got a bit more power here. And there simply shouldn’t be anyone ever riding slowly through 18 and 19. So even if you’re on a slow lap, you should still have to ride through 18 and 19 at full throttle and full power.”

Liam Lawson, who’s affected by this, says: ‘It’s down to the rules that scenes like this keep happening. If his power unit stops delivering electrical power there, but mine still does, then in Baku we’ll have a speed difference of 60, 70, 80 km/h in the blink of an eye. Hamilton couldn’t do much about it; it was just bad luck.”

The race stewards – Gerd Ennser (Germany), Loic Bacquelaine (Belgium), Derek Warwick (Great Britain) and Danil Solomin (Azerbaijan) – showed leniency: They issued Hamilton with a warning, his second of the season (following an offence under yellow flags at Silverstone).

Formula 1 drivers can accumulate a maximum of four such cautions; a fifth automatically results in a ten-place grid penalty.

The ruling states: “HAM was on a cool-down lap whilst LAW was approaching on a flying lap. HAM had been informed twice by his team that LAW was approaching.”

“The Race Director’s competition instructions require that cars on warm-up or slow laps must stay on the far left from the exit of Turn 16 to the entry of Turn 18; they also require teams and drivers to manage their distances before Turn 18 in such a way that they can drive from the apex of Turn 18 to the apex of Turn 19 without hindering a car on a race lap.”

“HAM did not stay on the far left between Turn 16 and Turn 18. Whilst approaching Turn 19, as LAW was closing in from behind, HAM remained on the racing line, forcing LAW to ease off the throttle and brake slightly. The Stewards therefore find that HAM failed to comply with the FIA’s instructions and unnecessarily obstructed LAW.”

“The standard penalty for hindering another driver during free practice is a warning, provided it is not dangerous or deliberate. In this case, there was no intent, but given the layout of the circuit and the fast corners, as well as the specific instructions from the race director, the stewards considered the obstruction to be serious.”

“The Stewards also took into account the difficulty of controlling energy recovery from Turn 16 to Turn 19 and until the end of the lap. Furthermore, during the hearing, both drivers mentioned that the difference in speed between the two cars is significant in this particular section when a driver is no longer able to dissipate energy.”

“Taking these circumstances into account, the stewards are imposing only a reprimand.”