Penalties for Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) unfair? GP winner Herbert is baffled

Lewis Hamilton (41) had to contend with two penalties from the race stewards at the Hungarian Grand Prix: A three-place grid penalty for the race for holding up Oscar Piastri; then a time penalty during the Grand Prix for disengaging the speed limiter too early at the end of the pit lane, meaning he was travelling too fast. That cost him the chance of a podium finish.

Afterwards, the driver with 106 Grand Prix wins to his name vented his frustration on Instagram: “Sometimes things just come thick and fast. It’s frustrating, but we’ll carry on.”

The winner of this year’s Barcelona Grand Prix has criticised the lack of consistency in the race stewards’ decisions on several occasions. And he has hinted between the lines that he may be under closer scrutiny than other drivers.

But long-serving Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert does not share this view. The driver, who has competed in 161 Grand Prix races (three wins, fourth in the 1995 World Championship), worked for many years as a race steward and knows exactly what discussions take place amongst the officials when a driver or a team makes a mistake.

Herbert states: “You can’t penalise a driver just because you might not like him. That’s not how it works. The guidelines are clear and simple. There are four race stewards in the room who work closely together. You can’t ignore the rules and guidelines, because that leads to all sorts of other problems. Besides, it would upset the drivers.”

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“Consistency in handing out penalties is absolutely crucial, and in my opinion the stewards are doing an excellent job.”

“The speeding offence in Hungary was Hamilton’s fault, and that’s that. You can’t blame anyone else for it. Would the Lewis Hamilton of ten years ago have done something like that? Probably not. I don’t know why he misjudged things at the Hungaroring. Ultimately, though, there’s no excuse for it.”

“It really isn’t the case that the stewards have anything against Lewis. That’s not how it works among the rule enforcers.”