Warning instead of a penalty: Lewis Hamilton retains his Silverstone podium place

Lewis Hamilton was certain after the chequered flag had been waved in Great Britain: he would receive a time penalty and consequently lose his 16th Silverstone podium finish. However, the local hero from the Ferrari team is allowed to keep his third place; the stewards – Gerd Ennser, Tanja Geilhausen, Mathieu Remmerie, Pedro Lamy and Richard Norbury – agreed to let it stand as a warning.

What had happened? Hamilton had disregarded a yellow flag on the 38th lap of the race. It was displayed at the ninth corner. The stewards’ investigation included statements from Hamilton and his team representatives, as well as data, videos, telemetry and on-board footage. It became clear that neither a yellow flag nor a yellow signal had been displayed to Hamilton at the start of the relevant sector.

The first signal after Turn 9 showed a green light; the corresponding indicator on the steering wheel also only switched to yellow when the Briton was already on the straight heading towards Turn 10 and thus approaching the end of the section where the yellow phase was in effect. No such indication was visible in the record-holding GP winner’s field of vision, and the corresponding warning on the steering wheel display also lit up only for a very brief moment.

The stewards accepted the argument that Hamilton had only a very brief moment to react. Furthermore, the Ferrari star had overtaken Max Verstappen shortly before reaching that section of the track and was therefore expecting a counter-attack. Consequently, he was concentrating on what he could see in his rear-view mirror on the straight leading up to Turn 10.

At the same time, however, the ruling also states that Hamilton failed to adjust his pace after the yellow flag had been displayed on the steering wheel screen and the green light had come on immediately before Turn 10. Consequently, the 106-time Grand Prix winner received a warning.

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