F1 News: Mercedes Receives Huge Fine After Lewis Hamilton Steward Review
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been cleared following a review by the FIA stewards after a near-miss incident with Williams driver Logan Sargeant during the second free practice session in Saudi Arabia.
The much-anticipated meeting concluded with Hamilton receiving a warning, while the team received a 15,000 euro fine. This allows the Mercedes star to continue his race weekend without further worry.
The incident, which occurred on the fast-paced Jeddah Corniche Circuit, saw Hamilton and Sargeant come dangerously close on the track, prompting an immediate and formal review by the sport's governing body.
Sargeant was forced to take evasive action to steer clear of Hamilton's slower-moving Mercedes, a manoeuvre that led to immediate frustration voiced over the team radio and subsequently, an official summons for Hamilton to discuss the matter with the stewards at 9:30 pm local time.
"I didn't realise someone was on a lap. I was trying to get out of the way for Sainz and all of a sudden there was a Williams there," Hamilton explained down his radio to his team at the time.
The reason is defined as such:
The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determine that Car 44 impeded Car 2 at Turn 11. As a result, Car 2 had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. Had that not been done, there would have been a serious, high speed crash.
Having listened to the team radio, it was clear to us that the team of Car 44 failed to warn their driver of the fact that Car 2 was arriving on a fast lap. That was a serious failure on the part of the team, particularly given the speeds on this circuit and the nature of turn 11, which is at the end of a series of high speed corners where driver visibility is impaired. We therefore issue a warning to the driver and impose a fine of €15,000 to the team.
