Grosjean fumes over lack of Hamilton penalty

Romain Grosjean was left angered by a lack of penalty for Lewis Hamilton, having felt he was impeded by the pole-sitter during qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton was investigated for potentially holding up Grosjean at the end of the lap as the Mercedes accelerated to start a timed lap and the Frenchman was finishing his attempt. The stewards opted to take no further action, stating: "while Grosjean may potentially have been affected by the presence of Hamilton at Turn 16, he was not impeded."

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Asked if he was surprised by the decision, Grosjean replied: "Yes.

"Surprised by the wording. Driver behind has not been impeded. If losing 0.3 to 0.4s in one corner is not being impeded I'm very surprised. I think it opens room for mess in qualifying and the rules are pretty clear.

"I know that there is a world title going on at the front but we are in a position where we actually fight as hard as the boys at the front and I was impeded today. Maybe if it was another driver the sanction would have been something and it does feel sometimes like there are two types of decisions."

Grosjean - who finished slowest in Q3 and will start from 10th place - suggested there could have been contact between the two cars had he not slowed in reaction to Hamilton's car being on the racing line.

"I think the title race is an important one but again we are fighting as hard as those boys. We've put a lot of work in and yes I lost 0.350 tenths in two corners. If next time I have to get my front wing in his rear diffuser to show that I have been impeded... We've got very clear rules in qualifying and with 10 cars in track in Q3 we should not have those problems."

Grosjean was informed of the stewards decision by RACER, having not been called to give his version of events, and Haas driver was left frustrated at the way the incident was dealt with.

"By one of your colleagues I learned the decision. I wasn't even there. I got a five-place grid penalty in China for being 40kph under double yellow and today I lost position and there's nothing happening. It's frustrating, it seems there is big inconsistencies between the decision and who is doing the maneuver."