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FIA revisiting Hamilton penalty from Qatar
The FIA is revisiting the penalty handed out to Lewis Hamilton for crossing a live racetrack at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Hamilton was originally summoned for crossing the circuit at Turn 1 after his collision with teammate George Russell on the opening lap of the race, with Russell then emerging from the pit lane after stopping for repairs shortly after Hamilton had reached the inside of the circuit. According to the stewards report, “He then continued to walk alongside the track until finally exiting the track.”
The stewards hand out a non-driving reprimand and a €50,000 fine ($52,500) – of which €25,000 ($26,125) was suspended until the end of the season – after Hamilton “was very apologetic and realized that the situation could have been very dangerous for him as well as the drivers approaching”.
However, that decision is now being re-examined by the governing body, as it looks into its safety penalty standards as a whole.
“The FIA is revisiting the incident in which Lewis Hamilton crossed a live track during the Qatar Grand Prix,” an FIA spokesperson said.
“The FIA notes that Lewis was apologetic during the subsequent Stewards hearing in to the incident and acknowledged that the crossing was a serious safety breach. However, in view of his role model status, the FIA is concerned about the impression his actions may have created on younger drivers.”
RACER understands the intention of the investigation is to identify whether future similar infringements could be penalized with harsher penalties, but it is unclear if that means a precedent will be set via a revised punishment for Hamilton.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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