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Lewis Hamilton has retained his fourth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix after escaping a sporting penalty following Ferrari's unsafe pit lane release during the race. Hamilton made contact with one of his mechanics after being given the green light to accelerate away from his pit stop, prompting immediate concern for the crew member's wellbeing.
The mechanic fortunately escaped injury, though Ferrari were swiftly placed under investigation for the unsafe release. Race stewards confirmed they would look into the incident after the session, allowing them to hear directly from Hamilton and a Ferrari representative regarding the circumstances before reaching a verdict.
FIA penalty guidelines indicated that only a sporting penalty could be issued for an unsafe release during a race. However, Hamilton was completely absolved of any wrongdoing by the stewards, who instead opted to fine the team £25,500, with a third of that sum suspended for the following 12 months. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace can't resist sarcastic NASCAR jab after North Wilkesboro
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In outlining their ruling, the stewards said: "The team explained the incident occurred in the context of a complex and unusual combination of circumstances. Hamilton had been issued a five-second time penalty for a driving infringement which had to be served before work could commence on the car. Charles Leclerc was in his pit box at the point Hamilton entered the pit lane. Hamilton told his engineer that he wanted a front wing adjustment but that was not conveyed to the super controller.
"Hamilton came into his pit box, served the time penalty and, at the end of the five seconds, one member of the team announced 'go' and then '0.6 degrees', the former being an instruction to commence the pit stop and the latter being an instruction for a wing adjustment."
"The tyre change was completed, the jack-man dropped the F1 Car and the super controller activated the green light signal for car 44 to move off. Just as the driver moved off, another mechanic with a front wing tool moved forward into the path of the front right tyre. Before he stepped forward he had his head down looking at the tool and did not see the green light.
"The team acknowledged that for Car 44 to have been released in these circumstances was unsafe and attributed the error to an inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic's failure to notice the green light. The team committed to undertaking a review of their pit stop procedures to ensure an incident such as this will not be repeated."
The stewards went on to state: "The driver was in no respect at fault. Indeed, the driver the stewards realised what had occurred as soon as he commenced to move off and immediately stopped until the mechanic was clear. Far from resulting in a sporting advantage, the incident brought about a sporting disadvantage for Car 44 which was delayed in its pit stop."
In the circumstances, the incident did not justify a sporting penalty but did justify a significant fine on the competitor given that procedural failures of this nature prejudice the safety of mechanics. The Stewards took into account the unusual combination of circumstances which contributed to the confusion within the team - circumstances which would not be in the usual contemplation of the team.
For this reason, the Stewards determined to suspend part of the fine but on condition that the team conduct a review of their procedures and submit a report to the FIA outlining remedial steps to be taken.
Speaking before the stewards announced their ruling, Hamilton had explained what occurred. He said: "The green light went, and so I went. You're looking over here [at the light] and not over there [at the mechanic]. That's more on the team, ultimately. But when it happened, I noticed him and I stopped and what went through my mind at that moment was when Kimi hit and broke the leg, and my heart really sank for a second. I'm really grateful he's okay."
He was referencing an incident from the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Kimi Raikkonen was similarly given a green light by Ferrari mechanics and struck mechanic Francesco Cigorini during his departure. The mechanic sustained a double leg fracture and was transported to a nearby hospital.
Thankfully, no comparable injuries occurred in this instance.
